North Oil Company Drilling in Kirkuk
Iraq’s North Oil Company has drilled 31 new wells in latest bid to boost output from the aging Kirkuk’s oil fields, according to a report from Azzaman. Oil first was pumped from Kirkuk more than seven decades ago. Kirkuk’s fields, once believed to be one of the world’s largest, have seen their output fall to […]
Ceyhan Pipeline Interrupted Again
The flow of crude oil from northern Iraq's Kirkuk oilfields has again been interrupted, according to a report from Dow Jones. Shipping agents report a technical fault since Sunday on the Turkish part of the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline. This is the third time the flow has been suspended this month, sometimes due to technical faults and […]
Saudi Firm to Invest in Oil and Electricity
A delegation from the Saudi al-Jumaih Holding Company briefed Iraqi Vice President Abdel Abdulmahdi [Adel Abdul Mahdi] on the projects the firm is planning in the oil and electricity sectors, according to a report from Aswat al-Iraq. Abdulmahdi welcomed the Saudi firm and all other Arab and foreign companies planning to invest in the Iraqi […]
Najaf Airport Installs Automatic Booking Machines
The general manager of Najaf International Airport said on Monday that automatic booking machines are being installed at the airport to allow bookings through the internet. Sadiq al-Laban told AKnews, "The automatic booking system is modern and sophisticated. It would facilitate and confirm bookings through the Iraqi Airways website, and through the official website of […]
UAE Company to Invest in Karbala
A UAE company has agreed to build a residential and commercial compound in Karbala, the chairman of the Karbala council said on Monday. “A delegation from a UAE company has wrapped up its several-day visit to Karbala, during which it expressed an interest in implementing tourism and hotel projects in the province, as it has […]
Sterling Energy Update on Kurdistan Exploration Well
Sterling Energy Plc, the AIM-listed independent oil & gas company with operations in Iraqi Kurdistan, provided an update this morning on its exploration well at Sangaw North. Further to the announcement dated 6 August 2010, the repairs to the Sakson drilling rig have now been completed and the rig has resumed operations. Sterling's plan is […]
German Gas Contract Sparks New Row
We reported yesterday on the new gas deal between the Kurdistan Regional Government and the German giant RWE. Today, a new row has broken out between Erbil and Baghdad regarding the legality of Kurdish oil and gas contracts. Aswat al-Iraq reports that the Iraqi Oil Ministry, through the State Organization for Marketing Oil (SOMO), claimed […]
Zaha Hadid to Design Baghdad's New Central Bank
Baghdad-born architect Zaha Hadid has been appointed to design a new headquarters for the Iraqi central bank in Baghdad, two months after an attack on the building left at least 15 people dead. Bloomberg reports that Hadid, aged 59, was approached by the Iraqi authorities earlier this year, before the attack, and initial talks about […]
Iraq's Economy Mounts Shaky Advance, Led by Oil
"Seven years after the U.S.-led invasion, Iraq's petroleum industry shows signs of living up to the potential that American planners hoped for at the start of the military operation, a potential boost to the war-ravaged country's economic recovery. "After fits and starts, Iraq's oil production has rebounded to pre-war levels." So reports the Wall Street […]
Al-Shahristani Re-Affirms Stance on OPEC Quotas
Iraq's oil minister, Hussain al-Shahristani, has said Baghdad will consider applying OPEC quotas once its crude oil production reaches at least 4 million barrels a day in two to three years, according to an Associated Press report. He says there is no rush to discuss quotas with other members of the Organization of the Petroleum […]
$270m Chinese Concrete Factory for Muthana
Staff from the China National Building Material Company, CNBM, have started work on the construction of the first concrete factory in al-Muthana province. "The Chinese firm will construct the factory for an Iraqi investor," a local source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. He explained that the total cost of the project is $270 million [320 […]
'More Than $1 billion' Investments in Ninawa
The Ninewa Investment Commission has granted 28 investment permits for investments totalling "more than $1 billion" [1.2 trillion Iraqi dinars] in the province. "The permits were granted to local businessmen to invest in the fields of agriculture, industry, tourism, health and education," a source from the commission told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. He explained that […]