Biggest Olive Groves in Middle East - in Diyala!
Diyala's provincial government says that Spanish companies have submitted bids to establish the biggest olive plantation in the Middle East. According to a report from Al SumariaTV, the groves would cover an area of 50,000 donums, which equates to 12,500 hectares, or about 31,000 acres. The same source said that an Emirati company and an […]
New Blog Series - Construction in Iraq
Iraq, 1980. The Iranian F15s swooped around the partially constructed Ishtar Sheraton, followed the Tigris river beside Abu Nawas Street and launched their missiles at Al Dora refinery. Thirty years of war and unrest had begun. I know because I was there – I was the project quantity surveyor then, working for the State Organisation […]
Gulf Keystone Starts Drilling at Shaikan-3
Gulf Keystone (LSE: GKP), the Kurdistan-focused oil explorer widely rumoured to be a takeover target, has announced the commencement of drilling operations on its Shaikan-3 appraisal well, effective September 2, 2010. This is a shallow appraisal well, very close to the Shaikan-1 well, the site of last year's discovery of the giant Shaikan oil field. […]
Business Booming at Sulaimaniyah International Airport
Business is booming at Sulaimaniyah International Airport, with more than 2,000 flights since the beginning of 2010. From January 2010 to the end of August, there were 2,381 flights to and from the airport, Dana Mohammad the media director of the airport, told AKnews. A total of 107,581 passengers have flown through the airport during […]
Siemens Eyeing up Electricity Investments in Basra
Germany's Siemens is eyeing up electricity investments in Basra. “A delegation from Siemens met today (Sept. 2) with officials of the provincial council’s electricity committee to discuss ways to carry out projects in the power sector in Basra,” Ziyad Ali told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The delegation expressed readiness to carry out power projects in […]
ShaMaran Announces Capital Raising
ShaMaran Petroleum (TSX VENTURE:SNM), the Canadian oil company with operations in Iraqi Kurdistan, has announced a new share placing to raise capital. The Vancouver-based company has agreed to sell, on a non-brokered, private placement basis, an aggregate of up to 111.2 million common shares at a price of Cdn $0.45 per share for gross proceeds […]
Tenders Soon for Repair of Mosul Dam
Iraq Minister of Water Resources, Jamal Rashid [Abdul-Latif Rashid], said that cracks in a water dam in Mosul are costing half a million dollars per year. The Minister said that his ministry is about to offer tenders for international companies to repair the cracks and to reach the stage where the essential level of water […]
Baghdad Ups Stakes in Kurdistan Gas Row
Baghdad has increased the stakes in the row that has flared up over the new German/Kurdish gas contract. Last week we reported on the dispute relating to KRG's agreement with German energy giant RWE. Now AKnews reports that the Iraqi oil ministry said last week that it will cut Kurdistan’s fuel share in half as […]
Kurdistan Gas Dispute - German Govt Staying Clear
The German government has refused to be drawn into the row over RWE's new gas agreement with the Kustdistan Regional Government. The Iraqi oil ministry has said the agreement is illegal because the country's oil and gas are federal resources to be administered centrally. Asked about the dispute, a spokesman for the German economy ministry […]
Basra 'Sheraton' Re-Opening - Constructor Fired
The project manager of Sheraton Hotel in Basra confirmed on Thursday that the Integrity Board suspended the Sumar company after it reached its final stages, because the company did not hand over the project on time. Wameeth Abass, an engineer on the project, told AKnews, "The Integrity Board suspended our work with the Sumar Company […]
Iraq Exported 320,000 barrels of Oil to Jordan in August
Iraq exported around 320,000 barrels of oil to Jordan during August 2010, according to Aswat al-Iraq. “The transportation process by trucks is going very well,” a source told the news agency on Thursday. He referred to a high-level of coordination between Iraq and Jordan to facilitate the oil transportation process. (Source: Aswat al-Iraq)
Upper Quartile and G4S Catalogue Show
Sunday 20th of June 2010, there was a real buzz in downtown Baghdad. Iraqi businessmen queued for hours to get through the security checks for the chance to discover American or British companies that could supply goods or services of quality. The Baghdad Catalogue Show was an event that really demonstrated the strong desire and […]