Iraq's Image is Set to Change
When many people think of Iraq, they think only of wars, decades of high inflation, blistering sun, and power cuts, but the people clinging to this outdated and narrow image of the country will not be the winners in the new Iraq. As regular readers of Iraq Business News will be aware, there's an increasing […]
US Military Supplies Iraq with F-16s
Gen. Jeffrey Buchanan, spokesman of the U.S. military in Iraq, says that Washington agrees on supply Iraq with F-16 military aircraft, shortly after the US's full withdrawal from the country by the end of December 2011. The General told AKnews that the abilities and skills of the Iraqi air forces have improved, and they will […]
Lukoil Earmarks $4.5bn for West Qurna 2
Russia’s Lukoil aims to produce 120,000 barrels of oil a day at Iraq’s field by the end of 2012, and is seeking customers for the fuel in Asia, according to a report from BusinessWeek. The Moscow-based company plans to begin selling crude from the field in 2013, Paul Hawkins, director of supply and trading […]
OMV CEO Relaxed about Nabucco Delays
Delays in the Nabucco gas pipeline project, which re reported on in recent days, are not a problem because there has been a dip in European gas demand due to the economic downturn, the chief executive of shareholder OMV said on Tuesday at the Reuters Central European Investment Summit in Vienna. The 7.9 billion euro […]
Currency Counterfeiters Caught in Basra
An Iraqi police source said that army forces arrested a gang of currency counterfeiters during a security operation in Basra 550 km south of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. The official source said that the gang consisted of two people, and the security forces found nearly $90,000 [105 million Iraqi dinars] of counterfeit currency on site, […]
France Pushes to Remove Iraq from Chapter VII
The French Ambassador to Baghdad, Boris Bouillon, said on Tuesday that he wants to remove Iraq from UN Chapter VII, despite the difficulties they face, pointing at the same time the desire of French companies to enter the Iraqi market. In an interview with Alsumaria News, the Ambassador said, “France has a strategic vision towards […]
Weatherford CEO Sees More Oil Services Mergers
Reuters reports that the Chief Executive of Weathford International, one of the largest suppliers of goods and services to oil companies, said the oil services industry needed more consolidation. Weatherford is currently operating in Iraq's al-Bazerkan oilfield in Amara. "We need to get larger," said Bernard Duroc-Danner, citing the fact that oil services companies face […]
European Union to Open Office in Erbil
The European Union (EU) will open a representative office in Erbil in the near future, an EU official said on Tuesday. The European Union Chief of the Judicial Development Program, Michael Kassan, told AKnews that the Union has requested authorization from officials in the Kurdistan Region and Baghdad to open a representative office in the […]
France Opens Research Institute at Erbil's Citadel
Prime Minister Barham Salih [Barham Saleh] and France’s Ambassador to Iraq today opened a French centre for research inside Erbil Citadel, the world’s oldest continuously inhabited settlement. As well as launching the Iraq office of l’Institut Francais du Proche-Orient (IFPO - the French Institute for the Near East), Prime Minister Salih and Ambassador Boris Bouillon […]
WesternZagros Reports on Kurdistan Operations
WesternZagros Resources, the Canadian-listed oil and gas exploration company with operations in Iraqi Kurdistan, reported on its operations this morning. The TSX market has not yet opened, but shares in WesternZagros have risen 50% over the past week. The text of the company's statement follows:
Iran Re-Gains Third Place in Oil Reserves War
Just a week after Iraq finally re-stated its oil reserves, jumping from fourth to third place ahead of Iran, the Iranians have decided to re-state their oil reserves. And by a strange coincidence, they have re-taken their place ahead of Iraq. The moves comes ahead of an OPEC meeting on Thursday; oil reserves and production […]
Shell Already Reports Success at Majnoon
Royal Dutch Shell (LSE: RDSB) has already raised oil production from Iraq's Majnoon field to 70,000 barrels a day, up from 45,000 barrels a day previously, the company's Chief Executive, Peter Voser, said on Tuesday. The risk of operating in Iraq has increased in recent months, but operations are still going well, he said. The […]