By John Lee. Austrian oil and gas company OMV has said that second-quarter profit dropped 29 percent as production fell in Libya and its gas-trading unit lost money, according to Bloomberg. Chief Executive Officer Gerhard Roiss (pictured) is shifting OMV’s focus to exploration and production, including in Iraqi Kurdistan, while selling assets like gas stations […]
By John Lee. Austria's OMV, the operator of the Bina Bawi field in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, has today issued the following press release: An extended well test ("EWT") commenced production from the Bina Bawi-3 well on March 20, 2013. Furthermore the contractor group has submitted a Declaration of Commerciality for the field to […]
Austrian companies in Vienna heard about the investment and trade opportunities in the Kurdistan Region, at the first business lunch to be jointly hosted by the Kurdistan Regional Government Austrian Representation and the Austrian Federal Chamber of Commerce. The guest of honour was Chairman of the Kurdistan Investment Board Minister Herish Muharam, who on the […]
By John Lee. The Iraqi Ambassador to Austria, Surood Rashid Najib, has met the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Yukiya Amano at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna, and notified him that the Iraqi authorities have ratified the additional protocol to their comprehensive safeguards agreement and it has therefore entered into force. […]
By John Lee. According to Iraq Oil Report, Austria's OMV will hand back two exploration blocks to the Kurdistan Regional Government. In its latest trading statement, OMV said it had written off exploration expenses at the "unsuccessful wells and exploration licenses" relating to the Mala Omar and Shorish blocks. The company has failed to find […]
By John Lee. The Kurdistan Region's Tourism Board has announced plans to develop 53 tourist sites in the region, including the Bekhal Resort. Designs for some of the sites have already been completed, according to a report from AKnews. Mawlawi Jabar, Head of the board, said that companies from Lebanon and Austria are undertaking the […]
By John Lee. Two oil executives in the Kurdistan Region have told Reuters that Chevron is purchasing 80 percent of the Sarta and Rovi blocks from India's Reliance Industries. Austria's OMV holds the other 20 percent interest in Sarta/Rovi. Chevron reportedly declined to comment on Wednesday, saying that it continued to be interested in pursuing […]
The Kurdistan Regional Government's Head of Foreign Relations officially opened a new Representation Office in Vienna on Saturday, making it the 13th KRG representation office abroad. At the same time, Austria's Vice Chancellor and Foreign Minister announced that Austria also plans to open a representation office in Erbil as well. Minister Falah Mustafa opened the […]
A trade delegation from Austria, headed by former chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer (pictured), voiced their willingness to open Austria's trade representation in the Iraqi Kurdistan region. According to the report from AKnews, the delegation met with Parliament Speaker Kemal Kirkuki and promised to cooperate in reconstruction and development of Kurdistan through the new consular office. There […]
Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani met with Austria's President Heinz Fischer on Friday in Vienna to discuss bilateral relations and mutual cooperation. In a very cordial meeting, President Barzani and President Fischer exchanged views on the current political situation in Iraq and in the Kurdistan Region, and the recent political developments in the Middle East. […]
In a recent interview on EU's energy security with World Security Network Foundation (WSN), former Austrian Chancellor Dr. Wolfgang Schüssel (pictured) said that Europe should also diversify sources of energy supply by looking, for instance, to the Kurdish Region of Iraq. Europe is heavily dependent on Russia for its energy supply, especially natural gas, which […]
The Kurdistan Region Government (KRG) has announced that it is to open a representative office in Austria. A KRG official said that the Prime Minister, Dr. Barham Saleh, signed an official document to assign Mustafa R. Koran as the representative in the office. He added that steps will continue to open more offices in other […]
