15-Year Ceyhan Pipeline Contract Signed
The Iraqi Oil Minister renewed a contract with Turkey to transport crude oil through the Turkish port of Ceyhan for 15 years, at volumes of more than one million barrels per day (bpd). The deal is expected to strengthen economic relations between Baghdad and Ankara. AKnews reports that Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani said in Baghdad […]
New 'Sheraton' Hotel Opens in Basra
The new Sheraton Hotel in Basra was formally opened on Saturday, with a large gathering in attendance. But as we recently reported, the company in charge of building the hotel has run into problems with the tourism board in Basra because the project was not completed on time. The general supervisor of Summar Company, Sara […]
Details of New Iraq/Syria Pipelines
An initial agreement between Iraq and Syria to build a pipeline to the Mediterranean envisions one crude pipeline with a capacity of 1.5 million barrels per day and another with a capacity of 1.25m bpd, an Iraqi government spokesman said yesterday. Ali Al Dabbagh said that the larger of the two pipelines would carry heavier […]
Gas Auction Delayed, But How Many Companies Interested?
Rumours of a delay in Iraq's gas auction have proved to be true, with companies being given an additional three weeks to consider their response to the new contract terms. Both AKnews and MEED report that the new deadline for submissions is extended from 1st October to 20th October. AKnews suggests that as many as […]
Iraq's Core Inflation Rises in August
Iraq's core annual inflation rose to 1.9 percent in August from 1.7 percent in July, according to Reuters, quoting an official at the Central Bank. "The core inflation is stable, this is a normal rise due to the increase of food prices during the month of Ramadan," sais Mudher Kasim, a senior adviser in the […]
DSCEI Sales more than $3m in August
The Diyala State Company For Electrical Industries had sales of more than 4.12 billion dinars ($3.4 million) during August, according to a statement from the Industry Ministry. “The company has supplied the electricity distribution departments in Missan, Anbar and Diala with 308 generators to improve the performance of their networks,” said the statement received by […]
Construction Investments in Iraq - First Steps
First, a lesson to designers! We were involved in a team presentation for a large development, which required of course its iconic centrepiece building. The designer took inspiration from the current fashion for twisted shaped buildings, and it did indeed look very gracious. However, the client team leader interpreted it as a representation of the […]
Sterling Energy Plunges 40% on Kurdistan Update
Shares in Sterling Energy (LSE: SEY), the AIM-listed oil & gas company with interests Iraqi Kurdistan, fell 40% in early trading this morning following an update on its activities at Sangaw North: Sangaw North #1 Exploration Well The exploration well has been drilled to an intermediate depth of 2,395m and open-hole wire-line log data acquired […]
Russia's Rosneft Sets Sights on Iraq
Rosneft, reportedly Russia's biggest oil producer, is discussing projects in Iraq, its newly appointed president said on Friday. "We are discussing," Eduard Khudainatov told reporters on at the Sochi economic forum, without going into further details. The company is planning for continued growth, and intends to hire of world-class specialists; it is expected to announce […]
G4S Wins Lukoil De-Mining Contract at West Qurna 2
Russia's Lukoil has awarded a mine clearing contract at Iraq's West Qurna 2 oil field to G4S Risk Management, a division of the London-based G4S Ordnance Management, Lukoil said in a statement sent to Dow Jones Newswires. Lukoil did not disclose the value of the contract, but said work should finish in early 2011, when […]
$190m for Irrigation Projects in 2011
The Agricultural Initiative panel plans to spend roughly 225 billion Iraqi dinars [$190m] on agricultural irrigation in 2011, according to a statement issued by the panel on Thursday. “The Initiative’s executive director, Dr. Hussein Jabir, proposed to the water resources ministry some selected projects for the year 2011 and offered a brief study on each […]
More Auditors Needed in Iraq
Patrick Fitzgerald, director of the US Defense Contract Audit Agency, told the Commission on Wartime Contracting that his agency lacks the resources to track all the money being spent in Iraq. The Pentagon’s top auditor said on Thursday that there may not be enough auditors to oversee all of the billions of dollars being spent. […]



