By Simon Kent. Kurdish Peshmerga forces have captured several villages from the self declared Islamic State, near the city of Mosul, the group's last urban stronghold in Iraq. Around 5000 Kurdish fighters participated in the operation, which was backed by Coalition air strikes. IS responded by launching suicide vehicle attacks, but these were not successful. […]
By Simon Kent. US Special Forces, possibly in conjunction with Kurdish commandos, have been involved in a targeted raid near the Iraqi border town of Al Qaim, CNN reports. The target of the raid, intended for capture, was killed during a firefight, according to the Kurdish Security Council. The raiding party were attempting to capture Sami […]
Iran Should Grab More Share of Iraq’s Foreign Trade: Official Iran’s share of neighboring Iraq’s annual foreign trade is totally inadequate, an Iranian official deplored, saying China and Turkey have overtaken Iran in exports to Iraq. Chairman of Iran-Iraq joint chamber of commerce, Yahya Al-e Eshaq, said Iraq’s market has a capacity of $190 billion […]
The Kingdom of Norway has contributed an additional US$3 million to UNDP’s Funding Facility for Immediate Stabilization (FFIS), which finances fast-track initiatives in areas liberated from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). With this contribution, Norway has channelled $10.7 million to UNDP's FFIS during 2016. Based on priorities identified by the Government […]
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Governorate of Sulaimaniyah signed an agreement to rehabilitate the main water network for Sulaimaniyah City which provides safe drinking water for more than one million people. “The Governorate and people of Sulaimaniyah have generously welcomed and supported displaced and refugee families,” said UNDP Resident Representative and UN […]
By Simon Kent. Outgoing US commander Lieutenant General Sean MacFarland has given a press conference on the state of the self declared Islamic State and the coming campaign to retake Mosul from group. At the conference, he noted that "the enemy is in retreat on all fronts.” The General noted that 30,000 airstrikes had hit […]
By Omar Sattar for Al Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. BAGHDAD — US Ambassador to Iraq Stuart Jones announced July 21 that the Iraqi government has started withdrawing the $2.7 billion loan secured on June 29. However, the Iraqi parliament had not been briefed on the deal, making […]
By John Lee. Reuters reports that Baghdad has reached agreement with BP, Shell and Lukoil to restart stalled investment in Iraqi oil fields, allowing production to increase by 250,000-350,000 bpd in 2017. According to documents seen by Reuters, the three firms agreed to spend in the second half of 2016 roughly half the budgets they proposed […]
By John Lee. Platts reports that Iraq will export 3.257 million bpd of Basra crude oil in September, up 13 percent from August. According to a provisional loading schedule seen by Platts, this will consist of 2.324 million bpd of Basra Light and 933,333 bpd of Basra Heavy grade. This compares to 2.078 million bpd […]
By John Lee. WesternZagros Resources has announced its operating and financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2016. Commenting on the second quarter results and subsequent events, WesternZagros's Chief Executive Officer Simon Hatfield said: "A significant key milestone was reached with the approval of the Garmian Field Development Plan confirming the commercial potential […]
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Government of Iraq signed an agreement today in Baghdad to help strengthen the capacity of the Government to detect, investigate and prosecute high-profile and complex corruption cases. The Prime Minister’s Deputy Chief of Staff, Mr. Naoufel Al-Hasan, said: “Ending impunity is at the center of our reform […]
U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Syria and Iraq yesterday, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today. Officials reported details of yesterday’s strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports. Strikes in Syria Bomber, fighter, attack, ground-attack, and […]
