Ship Imports Up 100,000 Tonnes
In another sign of Iraq's continued, swift, steady progress, Iraq's ports reported record profits exceeding 46bn dinars, according to Aknews. This is an increase of 10% compared to last year. Anmar al Safi, a director of the Iraqi Ports Public Company, said: "The rate of cargo dump increased 100,000 tonnes from 2009." No doubt shipping imports and profits will […]
Egypt Opens Consulate in Erbil, Discusses $2bn Debt
Egypt’s Foreign Minister, Ahmed Abul Gheit, officially opened his country’s consulate in Erbil on Sunday; this is the first Arab consulate to be opened in the Kurdish region, according to a report from Bloomberg. The opening of the consulate is expected to boost bilateral ties between Egypt and Iraq and Kurdistan Region. The minister stressed […]
Iraq Oil Output Now Up to 2.6m bpd
Iraq's oil minister, Abdul-Karim Elaibi [Luaibi], says the country's daily crude production has exceeded 2.6 million barrels a day. The minister says oil production will reach its planned targets "sooner than expected." Elaibi did not set a date for reaching these new levels in comments to reporters on Monday, although some reports put the target […]
Iraq Applies to Join ECO
Iraq has applied to join the Economic Cooperation Organization, or ECO, Turkey's President Abdullah Gul has reported, according to an article at the weekend from World Bulletin. Leaders of ECO-member countries gathered in Istanbul for a one-day summit meeting during which Turkey assumed the rotating term presidency from Iran. Iraq, as well as Qatar and […]
Addax Petroleum Increases Output
Addax Petroleum Corp.’s crude output has risen 14 percent since the Geneva-based company was acquired by China Petrochemical Corp. in August last year, according to Bloomberg. Crude production at Addax has grown to 155,000 barrels a day from 136,000 barrels a day, China Petrochemical, also known as Sinopec Group, said in a statement on its […]
Call to Reschedule Iraq's Debt
Following Iraq's exit last week from the UN's Chapter VII restrictions, an Iraqi economist has called for a rescheduling of the country's debt repayments. “Iraq’s financial funds are under UN trusteeship, according to UN’s Article 7,” Dr. Nabil Jaafar of Basra Univesity told Aswat al-Iraq news agency, pointing out that “the official and private debtors […]
PetroChina Invites 7 Contractors to Bid for Halfaya
PetroChina has invited seven contractors to submit the bidding documents for engineering, procurement and construction work on the first phase of development at the Halfaya oilfield in Iraq in the first week of 2011, the Norway-based energy newspaper Upstream has reported. The report said the companies invited to participate in the tender include the UK-listed […]
Mass Global Wins Kurdistan Smelter Contract
The Kurdistan Regional Government has licensed a firm to build a $1.1 billion smelter and steel plant, according to Trade Arabia. Mass Global was granted the to build the project in the Chamchamal area between Kirkuk and Sulaimaniya, said Haidar Mustafa, head of the industrial projects department of KRG's investment commission. "The total amount of […]
Halliburton Complained of Iraq Security 'Mafia'
Oil companies working in Iraq complained of a "mafia" type atmosphere that drove the price of security up considerably, according to leaked U.S. diplomatic cables revealed by Wikileaks. London's Guardian newspaper reports that official at oil services company Halliburton complained the price of security in Iraq was "unwarranted" during a modestly secure environment in 2008. […]
Iraqi Govt Patchwork Alliance May Struggle to Survive
By Ranj Alaaldin, a Middle East political and security risk analyst based at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He visits the Middle East regularly and as part of his recent work on Iraq has visited the country on a number of fact-finding missions. Foreign Policy magazine recently listed him among its 100 […]
Special Parliament Session Demanded to Discuss Electricity Problem
Members of Parliament from Iraq’s al-Ahrar (Liberals) Bloc has demanded that the Parliament holds a special session to discuss the problem of electrical power, according to a statement carried by Aswat al-Iraq. “We demand the Parliament’s chairmanship to add the issue of the electric power on the schedule of the Parliament for next session, in […]
UAE Ambassador Reviews Investment Opportunities in Anbar
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) ambassador to Iraq Abdullah Ibrahim reviewed with local officials in Anbar on Thursday economic conditions and investment and trade opportunities in the province, a local council source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “Ambassador Ibrahim met with Anbar Provincial Council Chairman Jassem Mohammed Hamad and other members and exchanged views on […]