Jordan to Drill at Iraq Border by end-2011
Jordan's official news agency, Petra, reports that drilling will start at the Risha natural-gas deposit straddling the country’s border with Iraq by the end of the year. Citing Energy Minister Khalid Touqan, the agency says work will start at the first of two wells to be initially drilled at a depth of between 3 kilometers […]
Boardroom Coup at DNO Fuels Bid Speculation
Norwegian investor Berge Gerdt Larsen was booted out as chairman of DNO International on Thursday, in a boardroom coup led by majority shareholder RAK Petroleum. RAK chief executive, Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani (pictured), was voted in as new chairman at the Norwegian independent’s annual general meeting in Oslo, after the Middle East shareholder disclosed its plan to […]
$3bn to be Spent on 5,100 US Mercenaries for Iraq
Speaking to the Commission on Wartime Contracting, Undersecretary of State Patrick Kennedy (pictured) said that the State Department intends to spend approximately $3 billion hiring 5,100 private security contractors to serve in Iraq. The State Department has repeatedly discussed the creation of this force for after the withdrawal of U.S. military forces from Iraq, which […]
UN / Uni of Basra Support Iraqi Marshlands
Under the title, “Rethinking Strategies for a Sustainable Future”, the national conference on the Marshlands was held in Basrah on 6 – 7 June, in order to build a national consensus on the basic principles that will guide future projects and activities in the Marshlands and raise awareness of the prospects for rehabilitating the area. […]
EgyptAir Opens New Routes to Baghdad and Erbil
EgyptAir has announced that it will start operating direct flights to Baghdad and Erbil starting mid July 2011. This decision comes as one of the steps taken by EgyptAir to build new markets and to link Iraq with Europe and North America through Cairo Hub. “We will start operating 7 weekly flights to Iraq , […]
23% of Investment in Kurdistan is from Foreign Countries
Foreign companies and governments account for about 23 percent of the investment in the Kurdish Region, according to a report from AKnews. The Kurdistan Investment Board said that $3.9 billion [4.6 trillion Iraqi dinars] of investments came from up to 20 countries in the past 5 years. With $17.4 billion [20.3 trillion Iraqi dinars] was […]
Clinton urges U.S. companies to invest in Iraq
Iraq is open for business, and American companies should make an effort to invest there, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (pictured) has said, according to a report from CNN. The Secretary was addressing the Business Forum Promoting Commercial Opportunities in Iraq, which included executives from companies as far-ranging as Occidental Petroleum, JP Morgan Chase, General […]
Missan Oil Co Boss is Sacked
The Chairman of Southern Iraq’s Missan Energy Committee has said on Thursday that the Province’s Council had decided to sack the Director-General of Missan Oil Company from his post. According to the report from Aswat al-Iraq, he has been accused of poor administration and failing to achieve higher oil production results during his assignment. “Missan […]
Iraq Will Ask US troops to Stay Post-2011, says Panetta
Iraq will ask the US to keep troops in the country beyond an end-of-2011 pullout deadline, says outgoing CIA director Leon Panetta (pictured), the nominee to be the next US defence secretary. Speaking at a US Senate committee considering his nomination he said he had "every confidence that a request like that will be forthcoming", […]
First Investment Fair in Anbar
Anbar province’s first investment fair will be opened on Sunday. It is hoped the event, in the tourist city of Habbaniya, will encourage international investments in the West Iraqi province. “Preparations, including security measures, are completed for the fair between June 12 and 18. More than 45 local and foreign investment companies will be taking […]
HSBC ups BDSI investment
On June 7, HSBC announced that it would be subscribing in full to Dar Es Salam Bank’s (BDSI) 46.9% rights issue. The “world’s local bank” will be buying 23.7 bn new BDSI shares at IQD 1 each for the equivalent of about US$ 20.3 mn. (See this link for the announcement .) The HSBC subscription […]
Chinese Company Wins $174m Halfaya Contract
The China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and its partners in the southern Halfaya oilfield have awarded a $174 million contract to the China Petroleum and Engineering Corp. (CPECC) to build three crude processors, an Iraqi oil official told Reuters on Sunday. Ali Maarij, head of Iraq's state-run Missan Oil Company said the new plants will […]