The latest news from Iraq – oil, gas, business and more – brought to you by Iraq Business News
By John Lee. Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz (pictured) has remarked at a press conference that the country is ready to export oil from storage tanks at Ceyhan, once they have reached their capacity of 2.5 million barrels. Baghdad is currently opposed to such a move, and minister Yildiz has expressed a desire for the […]
By Ali Mamouri for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Journalist Colin Freeman wrote a March 4 article for The Telegraph's blog titled, “Forget Obama and the EU. The man who should really have the Nobel Peace Prize is an obscure Iraqi cleric." In it, he offered up […]
By John Lee. The Central Bank of Iraq has purchased 36 tonnes of gold valued at $1.6bn to help stabilise the Dinar against foreign currencies, Bloomberg reports. Iraq is now the 43rd largest holder of gold reserves globally, having already held 29.8 tonnes as of August last year, but the latest purchase is one of the biggest by […]
By John Lee. Sources from Reuters have reported that Iraq's entire electoral commission have resigned en masse complaining of "political interference." The move comes following a conflict between the judiciary, legislature and the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) following a decision by the judiciary to disqualify candidates said to be of "ill repute." This could quite possibly […]
By John Lee. A couple of fashion stories went largely undetected this week as Baghdad held no less than 2 fashion events showcasing homegrown designer talent. The first was held at the Palestine Hotel and was a cat walk show featuring pret a porter dresses from Iraqi designer Mona Sultan. For those unacquainted with fashion terminology (like this […]
By John Lee. Baghdad governor Ali al-Tamimi has announced the completion of a plan for 1500 new housing units in the Baghdad governorate. The moves comes as the Iraqi government recently announced it would be falling short of its target of 2.5 million new housing units to meet demand. Housing and Construction minister Mohammed al-Darraji […]
By John Lee. Iraq's Health Ministry has announced the need for 56,000 more doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other health workers in Iraq in order to reach a target ratio of 10 physicians per 10,000 of the population, according to Aswat al-Iraq. For that target to be reached in the next four years, the Ministry is coordinating […]
By John Lee. Metinvest Group received permission to supply large diameter pipes fabricated from internally produced pipe-making plate for oil and gas pipelines in Iraq. The Oil Ministry of Iraq included Metinvest Group into its list of certified suppliers of large diameter pipes manufactured from internally produced pipe-making plate. The move followed Azovstal Iron and […]
By John Lee. China's Dongfang Electric Corp. has completed the first of 10 high speed, desert modified diesel trains at a ceremony attended by Iraq's ambassador to China, Railway Gazette reports. The trains were ordered in 2012, a year after Iraq announced plans for a Basra to Baghdad high speed rail route, an initiative that does not […]
By John Lee. Iraq's housing minister Mohammed al-Darraji says that the country is planning to spend $5bn on new housing units in the next 3 years, but that the required 2.5 million new units will not be complete on time to meet demand, Rebuilding Iraq reports. Currently there will only be 130,000 new units by next year, […]
By John Lee. Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Hussein al-Shahristani (pictured) has welcomed Nechirvan Barzani's offer of sending 100,000 bpd of oil through the State Oil Marketing Company. According to Aswat al-Iraq, Barzani's widely reported "good will" gesture was also welcomed by former oil minister Ibrahim Bahr al-Uloum who was positive about the offer. Until the […]
By Mushreq Abbas for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. The newly issued judicial decisions disqualifying election candidates in Iraq have reopened the debate on the standards of justice and equal opportunity for candidates. This time the controversy was accompanied by a debate on the loose mechanisms […]
