US Contractors Accused of Iraq Bribery
The New York Times reports that two American businessmen have been charged with paying army officers more than $1 million in bribes to secure multimillion-dollar contracts to supply the American military and help rebuild Iraq. A federal indictment against the men, George H. Lee, and his son, Justin W. Lee, was unsealed on Friday. Both […]
Iraq Gives Shell Deadline for Gas Deal
Iraq has warned Shell that it needs to finalise a $12 billion [14.4 trillion Iraqi dinar] gas deal by next week or it would cancel negotiations over the agreement, the country's deputy oil minister, Ahmed al-Shamma, said on Monday. "We warned Shell that either we finalise... the deal next week or we will cancel everything", […]
Deputy President Resigns After Just Two Weeks
One of Iraq's three deputy presidents has stepped down amid signs of divisions in the coalition government formed by Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurdish factions. Reuters reports that the resignation of Adel Abdul-Mahdi [Adel Abd al-Mahdi] came as Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki fends off critics who say he has not delivered on power-sharing promises since forming […]
Iraqi Airways to Appeal Asset Freeze
Bloomberg reports that Iraqi Airways will appeal a court order to freeze its bank accounts in Jordan following a lawsuit by Kuwait Airways. Karim al-Nuri, a spokesman for the Iraqi Minister of Transport, told the news agency: “We are preparing to appeal the Jordanian court order. Our appeal is based on the fact that Iraqi […]
Former UK Prime Minister Addresses the Kurdish National Assembly
The UK's former prime minister, the Rt Hon Sir John Major KG CH, addressed the Kurdistan National Assembly on Sunday 29th May. The full text of his address is provided below: I am immensely grateful to President Barzani for his kind invitation for me to visit Kurdistan. His invitation was issued a long time ago […]
CNPC Gets First Oil Payment for Rumaila
China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) has started to get paid for developing Iraq's Rumaila oilfield, according to reports from the China Petroleum Daily. The company received its first cargo of oil as payment for helping to develop the oilfield on 28th May, two weeks after partner BP loaded its first shipment. A crude oil carrier […]
Kuwait to Offer Guarantees on Port Project?
Teh Arab Times reports that Kuwait is ready to sign an agreement with Iraq to guarantee that the Mubarak Al-Kabeer port project will not hinder the construction of Iraq's Grand Faw port. According to the Director of Information at the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Aous Al-Tamimi, the Iraqi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs […]
Rabee Securities Opens Office in Erbil
Rabee Securities has announced the opening of a new branch office in Erbil, in Iraqi Kurdistan. The company statement says that the "city of Erbil is fast becoming a commercial and industrial hub in Iraq. Rabee Securities' Erbil branch will be the first branch of an ISX licensed broker dealer to start operations in this […]
The Iraqi Spring Comes to an End
The following article was published by Reidar Visser, an historian of Iraq educated at the University of Oxford and currently based at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs. It is reproduced here with the author’s permission. The opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. […]
Key Bills Moving Through the Iraqi Parliament
The following article was written by Kirk H Sowell, and published in Inside Iraqi Politics. It is reproduced here with permission. The opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Parliament currently lists 79 bills registered for consideration with a committee (list) but not yet […]
KOGAS Doubles Stake in Akkas Gas Field
KOGAS, the Korea Gas Corporation, will double its commitment to develop Iraq's Akkas gas field, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal. The move follows the withdrawal of its partner, Kazakhstan state gas company KazMunaiGas, from the project. Kogas, will now have a 75% stake in one of Iraq's largest gas projects, up […]
Iraq to Import Iranian Gas
Bloomberg reports that Iraq has signed an initial agreement to import 25 million cubic meters of natural gas a day from Iran in order to supply its power stations. The agreement provides for the installation of pipelines within 18 months to transport gas from Iran to the Sadr and al-Quds power stations in Baghdad, Mosaab […]