Oil and Energy Committee Urges Postponement on 4th Licensing Round
The fourth round of oil licensing should be postponed, the chairman of the Oil and Energy Parliamentary Committee said on Sunday, according to a report from AKnews. The committee has made a formal request to the Ministry of Oil asking them to delay the awarding of licences. Chairman Adnan al-Janabi, told AKnews that the fact […]
Parliamentary Committee to Consider Kurdish Oil Contracts
The Oil and Energy Parliamentary Committee will discuss the controversial oil contracts awarded by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq amid objections from the Federal Oil Ministry, it was announced on Monday. The contracts were awarded in 2009 by the KRG, but were never officially recognized by the central government in Iraq, who said […]
DNO to Pay Damages and Costs up to $92m
Reuters reports that Norwegian oil company DNO said it had resolved a long dispute over former U.S. diplomat Peter Galbraith's middle-man role in a 2004 Iraqi oil deal by paying damages and legal costs as high as $92 million. That compares to the $55 to $75 million in damages DNO estimated last October it would […]
Hungary Strengthens Ties with Iraq
Hungary is keen to improve trade and relations with Iraq, and along with the re-opening of its embassy in Baghdad it plans to open a consulate in Erbil. The announcement came on Sunday after a meeting between Hungary's deputy foreign minister, its Ambassador to Iraq, and the Chairman of Kurdistan's department of External Relations. According […]
A New Democracy Grows in the Middle East
The following article was written by Anahit Khatchikian and Roni Alasor, and published by Ararat News -- it is reproduced here with their permission. The opinions expressed are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. On economic level Federal Kurdistan Region (Iraq) has been compared by Western […]
The VP Saga Goes On
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. […]
Iraq to House Another 12,600 Families
Iraqi minister for reconstruction and housing said throughout 2011 some seven housing projects will be constructed in seven Iraqi provinces. AKnews reports that the flats will be allocated to 12,600 families in installments. Mohammed Daraji told AKnews on Thursday that the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has ordered the creation of the units in Kirkuk, […]
Muthanna Already OKs 73% of Investment Projects
Thirty-seven percent of the investment plan projects for the year 2011 in the province of al-Muthanna were approved in a “record” time, according to the province's governor, Ibrahim Salman al-Mayyali, on Thursday. “Muthanna finalized referral of 73% of the projects in the 2011 investment plan, worth 66.680 billion Iraqi dinars [$55.6m], thus outstripping all other […]
Basra Investment Commission Considers Bottled Water Project
The legal department of the Basra Investment Commission (BIC) is carrying out the final study of the bottled water project. The head of the department, Mohammed Rhyad Hilal (pictured), said that the project submitted by the international company Everest Seven, includes the construction of a plant producing bottled water sterilized by ozone. The production capacity […]
Wassit Blacklists 19 Companies
The province of Wassit [Wasit] has blacklisted 19 general contracting companies for their slackness in implementign project, the province's governor announced on Thursday. “Nineteen were blacklisted and five of them had their licenses withdrawn for their delay in carrying out service projects,” Mahdi al-Zubaydi told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. He noted that the local administration […]
Asiacell Revenues Up 17% year-on-year
Asiacell has stated that its revenues increased 17% year-on-year to US$377.29 million in Q1, according to a report from Wireless Federation. EBITDA rose 14% to US$213.63 million, with EBITDA margin falling 1% to 57%. Revenue and EBITDA growth was driven by increased customer base and increased usage. At the end of Q1, Asiacell had 8.306 […]
UN Pays Out $880m in Reparations for Iraq’s Invasion of Kuwait
The United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC), which settles the damage claims of those who suffered losses due to Iraq’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait, made $880 million available to nine successful claimants on Thursday. The latest round of payments brings the total amount of compensation disbursed by the Commission to $32.2 billion for more than 1.5 […]