Iraqi Trade Ministry Introduces Income-based Rationing
The Iraqi trade Ministry has announced that the ration card, known as the Public Distribution System, will now operate on a sliding-scale dependent on a citizen’s income. Walid al-Helo told AKnews that the ministry is trying to combat poverty in Iraq by expanding the scope of the system despite international pressure on the country to […]
Heritage Oil Gains on Kurdistan Update
Shares in Heritage Oil Plc (LSE: HOIL), the independent upstream exploration and production company with operation in Iraqi Kurdistan, were up more than 5% this morning after the company issued an Interim Management Statement for the periond July 2010 to 17 November 2010. Highlights The Miran West-2 well, in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, has […]
Weekly Security Update for 18th Nov 2010
Overview Security measures are currently heightened in Iraq for 'Eid ul-Adha, and this will likely remain the case until the weekend. Checkpoint searches will be tighter while many official offices will be closed. Public discussions on the government-formation process will also be interrupted until 21 November. Despite the increased security measures, however, militants will still […]
The Biggest Increase in Oil Capacity in History
The balance of risk and reward for investing in Iraq's vast oil reserves is changing, according to a report by Turner Investments. The report, called Oil in Iraq: A Profitable Gamble? considers safety risk for oil company employees and their families, risks to operations from bombs and landmines, and political risks ranging from a line of […]
Optimism Despite Iraq's New Government
National Alliance MP Hadi Al Amiri is holding the media responsible for creating tension over the government formation talks. I think that Iraq's politicians managed that well enough without us. The distrust continues, with Ayad Allawi, former prime minister, whose Iraqiya bloc won the most votes in the March elections now saying that the result […]
Investment in Kurdistan Tops $13bn
Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region, Barham Salih, visited major investment projects that are underway in Sulaymaniyah, the most populous city in the region. At a foundation stone-laying ceremony for Majidi Mall, a major retail building project, prime minister Salih said that direct investment in the Kurdistan Region has surpassed US$13bn. Investment won't stop there: […]
$10m Tourist Resort in Iraq
A tourist resort has been opened this week in central Amara, 150km north of Basra, at a cost of more than 12 billion dinars, reports Aswat al-Iraq. It is part of a 2007 plan to construct a tourist town in the southern city, which is better known for its marshes and Mesopotamian sites. “Adan tourist resort […]
Trade with Turkey Triples
Committees don't just sit around in Iraq. On 19th October the Iraqi government created a committee to increase business and economic relations with Turkey. Now, a member of the committee has said that the two countries are going to increase commercial exchange up to $12bn in 2011, reports AKNews. This is a more than three-fold increase on previous […]
Australia supports Iraq WTO membership
An Iraqi ministry has said that Australia supports its quest for World Trade Organisation membership, according to NINA. WTO membership will significantly boost investment in Iraq as well as increasing its access to goods and services due to fewer restrictions from WTO member countries. WTO membership takes almost as long to attain as agreement at a UN […]
World's Most Dangerous Motorway gets Beauty Treatment
Baghdad's airport road was considered the most dangerous motorway in the world, but the city is now turning it into "the most beautiful street in the world", according to AFP. The US military had called it "RPG alley" (that's rocket-propelled grenade), as road users were at the receiving end of particularly frequent attacks during 2006 and 2007. […]
Another Expo, Another $50m Invested in Iraq
It may be that the International DBX Trade Fair in Sulaymaniyah city in the Kurdistan region was one trade fair too many in Iraq, as it was unable to draw in the numbers that it wanted to in the four days to Sunday, 14th November. And yet, despite being held in the middle of nowhere easy […]
Global Companies Move Aggressively on Iraqi Oil
By Stan Harbison, Vice President of Research and Analysis at energy consultants EPRINC. The current efforts to dramatically increase Iraq’s oil production are huge in scale and revolutionary in forming a working partnership between Iraq’s own oil industry and the world’s largest oil companies. But more important at the present is the fact that they […]