Good News For Foreign Investors in Iraq
Iraq's newly-appointed President, Jalal Talabani (pictured), is apparently using his full allowance of 15 days to formally appoint a new Prime Minister, thus allowing the haggling over the details to continue. And while Nouri al-Maliki remains the 'agreed' candidate, we should never under-estimate the Iraqi parliament's ability to throw us a last-minute surprise. If al-Maliki […]
New Iraqi Court to Protect Foreign Investors
Iraq inaugurated a new court on Wednesday to resolve disputes between foreign investors and Iraqi companies, according to a report from Khaleej Times. In a ceremony attended by senior judges, prosecutors and judicial officials, Iraq’s most senior judge pronounced the new court open, and announced plans to establish similar courts in Mosul and Basra. The […]
Time for a new securities law?
The formation of a new Iraqi government will undoubtedly be good for stock market sentiment, as such events generally are. And indeed the market has pretty obviously turned around already, with volumes increasing and the Rabee Securities index up about 6% since bottoming in early October. But skeptics may still argue that investors have no […]
Halliburton Signs $150m Contract for Iraq's Majnoon Oilfield
Halliburton signed the one-year contract with Shell on Tuesday to develop the Majnoon oilfield, according to a media source from Shell. Hanadi al-Salman told Aswat al-Iraq news agency that, “according to the new deal, Halliburton will set up operation centers to dig 15 new wells,” he added. When the contract win was originally announced in […]
22 Power Plant Tenders to be Issued Next Week
Iraq will soon ask for bids on projects to install and run 22 gas turbines that could boost its power generating capacity by 30 percent in the next few years, an official from the Ministry of Electricity said on Tuesday. Reuters reports that the ministry plans to ask companies to build plants in four provinces, […]
Iraqi Finance Ministry: Iranian Banks in Iraq Exempt from UN Sanctions
A leading official in the Iraqi Ministry of Finance said on Monday that the Iranian banks currently operating in Iraq, and those planning to open branches in the country, are not covered by UN sanctions as they are not state-owned. The Finance Ministry’s undersecretary, Fadel Nabi, told AKnews that the Iranian banks present in Iraq […]
Kuwait and Iraq Agree New Border Deal
Iraq and Kuwait have agreed to create a 500-metre no-man's land on each side of the border, and to move Iraqi farmers to new homes, a Kuwaiti official said today (Wednesday). The Al-Seyassah daily quoted foreign ministry official Jassem Al-Mubaraki as saying that under the deal, Kuwait undertakes to build up to 50 homes inside […]
Egyptian Central Bank Trains Iraq's Bankers
With the stated aim of contributing to the reform of the Iraqi banking sector, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE)'s Banking Institute has begun training employees of Iraq's central bank in modern methods of banking and finance, administration and human resources. According to Banking Institute Executive Director, Hala al-Said, the move comes within the context […]
From Iceland to Kurdistan
A trade delegation from Iceland has arrived in the Kurdistan Region to hold talks with regional officials, seeking business opportunities and to strengthen bilateral relations, according to a report from AKnews. The delegation includes some Icelandic companies invited by a delegation of the region’s Kurdistan Exports and Imports Union (KEIU) in September, when they visited Iceland […]
Iraq Oil Ministry Downplays Use of Lead in Petrol
Iraq's Ministry of Oil denied on Monday that the cause of Iraqi air pollution is the use of tetra ethyl lead (TEL) as an additive to the petrol used in cars. The Ministry stressed that [imported] fuel does not contain this substance, while the locally produced petrol uses it only in small quantities. TEL has […]
Iraq Petroleum 2010 - Impressive Line-up of Speakers
The Iraq Petroleum 2010 Conference, taking place in London at the Millennium Gloucester on 29 Nov-1 Dec 2010, will focus on Iraq's upstream strategies to increase production and drive Iraq's oil and gas industry, new ventures, bid rounds and corporate oil and gas players in the industry. These topics will be delivered by industry specialists, […]
Eni CEO: Zubair Oilfield Output Up 10% By End-2010
Italy's Eni SpA and its partners will raise oil production from Iraq's Zubair oil field 10% above its previous level of around 180,000 barrels a day by the end of this year, the company said on Tuesday. Dow Jones reports that once the 10% increase is achieved, Eni will start receiving payment in the form […]