NewsFlash: Shahristani Denies KRG Oil Contracts Agreed
According to a report from Reuters, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was misquoted as saying the central government in Baghdad would honour Kurdish production sharing oil contracts, The agency quotes Deputy Prime Minister with responsibility for Energy, Hussain al-Shahristani, as saying: "All the contracts we (the central government) have signed were service contracts and we […]
Missan Oil Output to Rise 70% in 2011
Oil production in Missan [Maysan] will reach 170,000 barrels per day by the end of 2011, compared to 2010’s production of 100,000 bpd, according to a director of the Missan Oil Company on Sunday. “The 70,000 barrels increase will come from the development of the Halfaya oil field and the drilling of new wells,” Ali […]
Maliki Capitulates on the Kurdish Oil Deals
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. […]
Challenges in Iraq's Agriculture Sector
By Ronald P Verdonk, Agricultural Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. Iraqi agriculture, like other sectors of the economy, has a lot of catching up to do in order to create jobs and play a more significant role in boosting GNP. Production of grain, vegetables and fruit faces a range of challenges of which […]
Change and Tradition in Iraqi Kurdistan
By Chris Bowers, British Consul General in Erbil. This article was originally published by Rudaw, and is re-published with permission by Iraq Business News. Whenever I travel to downtown Erbil from our consulate in the northern reaches of the city, I am struck by the pace of change. Erbil, and much of the rest of […]
France's Ambassador to Iraq Transferred to Tunisia
Following a successful and high-profile stint as France's Ambassador to Baghdad, Boris Boillon is being transferred to Tunisia. The Algerian-born Boillon has been very active in promoting the business and cultural relationship between France and Iraq, and Iraq Business News has recently reported on France's many successes in the country. At 41, Boillon is France's […]
Maliki 'Accepts' Kurdish Oil Contracts, DNO Jumps
Iraq's Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, has said in an interview with news agency AFP that Iraq will honour production-sharing contracts that the Kurdish regional authorities have signed with foreign companies. Shares in Norway's DNO, which has production in the region, rose 7% on the news. The report was not confirmed by the Oil Ministry and […]
New Iraq Wheat Tenders Move the Market?
The Grain Board of Iraq (Ministry of Trade) has announced another tender on Monday for the supply of 100,000 tonnes of grain. Some experts cite this tender as a factor in the 1.6% jump in grain prices on Monday. Reuters quotes Brett Cooper, senior manager for markets at FCStone Australia, as saying: "Iraq has tendered […]
Maliki Takes Salary Cut, Will Not Stand For Re-Election
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has said he would give up half of his salary, and will not stand for re-election. According to Reuters, Maliki's media advisor, Ali al-Moussawi, said the premier would forego 50 percent of his $30,000 monthly paycheck to bring his salary closer to other government employees. "He feels there is a […]
Turkish Airlines Opens New Iraqi Routes
A member of Najaf provincial council announced on Friday that Turkish Airlines will run four flights a week between Istanbul and Najaf airport, increasing to seven flight s a week from next month when services to five other Iraqi airports will begin. Abdul Hussein Abtan told AKnews that the civil aviation authorities in Iraq and […]
Rain Boosts Iraq's Grain Output
Iraq’s grain imports will decline after rainfall boosted crop production, the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization said. Bloomberg, citing a report from the UN’s Global Information and Early Warning System, says imports will fall to 4.91 million metric tons in the year ending on June 30, down 6.1 percent from the prior 12 months. […]
Electricity Ministry Needs $6bn to Solve Crisis
A spokesman for the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity said on Saturday that resolving the energy crisis that has plagued the country in recent years will cost an estimated $6bn [7.2 trillion Iraqi dinars]. Musab al-Mudaris told AKnews that the ministry has asked parliament to provide appropriate funds in the 2011 budget to resolve the shortcomings […]