BREAKING NEWS: Iraqiya Politicians Defect, Govt Being Formed
Iraq Business News has received information late on Sunday that between 30 and 34 politicians have defected from Iyad Allawi's Iraqiya bloc, and will support Nouri al-Maliki's bid to form the next Iraqi government. Although these rumours are still unconfirmed, they are from a source trusted by Iraq Business News. The details are understood to […]
Gulf Keystone Update on Bajeel-1
Bijeel-1 Discovery Well Update Gulf Keystone notes the announcement made today by MOL Hungarian Oil & Gas Plc regarding the successful end of testing of the Bijeel-1 discovery well, in which Gulf Keystone holds a 20% Working Interest. Highlights: The cased hole test, performed at a depth of 3,804 - 3,967 meters in the Jurassic […]
MOL Updates on Kurdistan Oil Exploration Ops
MOL Hungarian Oil and Gas Plc. has informed the markets that it has finished the testing of the first well, Bijell-1 in Akri-Bijeel Block in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The cased hole test performed in the depth of 3,804 – 3,967 m from Jurassic formations produced 2,700 bbl/d 12-13 °API oil through 40/64” choke. […]
Oilfield Services Companies in Line for Iraqi Contracts
MEED reports that prospects look good for the only oil services companies eligible to bid for work on Iraq’s oil fields. At the Adipec oil and gas conference, which took place between 1-4 November in Abu Dhabi, the stands belonging to the ‘big four’ US oilfield services companies -- Schlumberger, Baker Hughes, Halliburton and Weatherford […]
US firm's $220m Housing Project in Basra
U.S. engineering firm World Solutions International (WSI) has unveiled a $220 million [257 billion Iraqi dinars] contract to build 2,500 housing units in Iraq, which is battling a housing shortage and in desperate need of investment. The engineering and construction company, based in Maryland in the United States, said on Thursday the units would include […]
Murphy Oil to Explore in Kurdistan
Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE: MUR) announced on Thursday that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Murphy Central Dohuk Oil Co., Ltd., has finalized an agreement with the Kurdistan Regional Government-Iraq (KRG) to acquire an interest in the Central Dohuk block. Murphy will operate and hold a 50% interest in the block. The Central Dohuk block covers approximately 619 […]
IEA Sceptical of Iraq's Oil Output Plans
The International Energy Agency (IEA) has reportedly poured cold water on Iraq's plans to quadruple oil production to 12 million barrels a day by 2017, saying it could take 20 years just to reach half the target total. But the agency predicted in a draft of its annual World Energy Outlook that Iraq will succeed […]
Could Kurdistan Unrest Hit UK-listed Oil Firms?
According to a report from Interactive Investor, foreign oil companies operating in Kurdistan have been thrust into the limelight as the race for a new Iraqi Prime Minister gets underway. There are over 25 international oil companies operating in the region, including UK-listed Gulf Keystone Petroleum (LSE: GKP) and Heritage Oil (LSE: HOIL). AIM-listed Gulf […]
Iraq Expects Initial Gas Field Contracts This Month
Iraq's Oil Ministry expects to sign the initial contracts for the Mansuriyah and Akkas gas fields on 14th November, and for the Siba gas field the following day, Abdul-Mahdy al-Ameedi, head of the ministry's licensing and contracting office said on Thursday. "And after the signing we will send the initial contracts to the cabinet for […]
$160m New Projects in Dhi-Qar
The governor of the province of Dhi-Qar held has announced that 17 infrastructure projects worth more than 185 billion dinars [$160m] have been granted to local companies, according to Aswat al-Iraq. Taleb al-Hassan told the news agency that “the province will implement another batch of projects in the regions and municipalities which have not witnessed […]
New $5.6m Hospital for Wassit
Wasit Investment Commission has announced that it granted its first investment licence within the health sector to an Iraqi company for the construction of a private hospital at a cost of around 6.5 billion Iraqi Dinars [$5.6m]. The new 100-bed hospital is to be equipped under the supervision of engineers from the investment board and […]
University of Cincinnati Partners With Salahaddin Uni.-Hawler
The University of Cincinnati is one of only a handful of American universities to be selected for an international partnership to rebuild Iraq’s educational system and its economy. UC President Gregory H. Williams and Salahaddin University-Hawler President Ahmed Anwar Dezaye celebrated the partnership in a formal Nov. 4 partnership-agreement-signing ceremony at the UC Teachers College. […]