DNO Updates on Kurdistan Operations

Norwegian oil producer DNO issued a report today (Monday) on the status on its activities in Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Summail-1 exploration well update The Summail-1 exploration well was spudded on 19 April 2011. The well has now been drilled ca. 25 meters into the Cretaceous interval and hydrocarbon shows were detected while drilling. An […]

The Next Iraqi Oil Round: Issues For Consideration

This work was written by Ahmed Mousa Jiyad, and it is reproduced here with his permission. It was originally published by MEES v54:n23, Monday 6 June 2011. Mr Jiyad is an independent development consultant, scholar and Associate with Centre for Global Energy Studies-CGES, London. He was formerly a senior economist with the Iraq National Oil […]

Iraq to Repay $408 million Egyptian Debt

Iraq has agreed to pay $408 million in cash to Egypt to settle old debts owed by Baghdad from more than two decades ago, a government spokesman said. Reuters reports that the debts date back to a period when United Nations sanctions following the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait blocked the payment of salaries that […]

Ministry of Industry Announces New Factories

The Ministry of Industry has announced that it signed a contract to establish a petrochemical factory with a daily capacity of 40 tons capacity, a potable water factory with a capacity of 23 million bottles per annum, and the expansion of a chloral-soda factory. It also granted 52 new industrial licenses. In a statement issued […]

Iraq to Increase Oil Supplies to Jordan by 50%

Jordan's Prime Minister, Marouf Bakhit, said that Iraq has agreed to increase the volume of daily oil supply to Jordan from 10,000 barrels to 15,000 barrels, with plans to increase the quantity to 30,000 barrels a day eventually. The two countries have agreed in principle to a planned crude oil pipeline stretching between the neighboring […]

$164m 'Fraud' Found in Baghdad Municipality

The discovery of two fake contracts in which officials from Baghdad municipality were involved has shed new light on the extent of corruption in the country, according to a report from Azzaman. The municipality claims that two of its senior officials were involving in doctoring two $164 million contracts for the construction of sports stadiums […]

Iraq Starts Drilling for Oil in Hamrin Mountains

The state-run Iraq Drilling Company started to drill and repair wells in the Hamrin mountains north of Baghdad for the first time in 21 years, according to Bloomberg. The company, affiliated with the country’s Oil Ministry, started to work on a total of 72 wells this week, the state-sponsored Iraqiya television said, citing Idriss Mohsen […]

Basra Investment Commission Approves $174m New Projects

The Basra Investment Commission has announced that it has granted 19 approvals for investment projects valued at $174m [204 billion Iraqi dinars]. The projects are in the areas of industry, trade, agriculture and tourism. In a statement issued by the commission, Eng. Haidar Ali Fadhil said that these approvals will create hundreds of jobs, and […]

Construction of Karbala Refinery to Start This Year

Iraq hopes to complete negotiations with European investors to build a new oil refinery in the city of Karbala [Kerbala], the country's Deputy Prime Minister, Hussain al-Shahristani (pictured), said on Friday. The projected 140,000 barrel per day (bpd) Kerbala refinery is part of a plan to build four new refineries, adding around 750,000 bpd of […]