The latest news from Iraq – oil, gas, business and more – brought to you by Iraq Business News
By John Lee. Foster Wheeler Kentz Energy Services DMCC, the Dubai-based joint venture company of Foster Wheeler and Kentz, announced today that it has been awarded framework contracts by Shell Iraq Petroleum Development B.V. ("Shell"), for the provision of engineering, procurement and related services for the Majnoon Oil Field Commercial Production Project in Iraq. Shell […]
By John Lee. Direct flights between Kuwait and Iraq have resumed after 2 decades, Mawtani reports. After initially starting at 2 flights a week, the eventual aim is to have daily flights, according to Iraqi Airways company director Capt. Saad al-Khafajy. Al-Khafajy was optimistic about flying more passengers between the two countries on Iraq's national carrier, noting […]
The following article was published by Reidar Visser, an historian of Iraq educated at the University of Oxford. It is reproduced here with the author’s permission. The opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. In a significant move, the Iraqi parliament has completed the first passage […]
By John Lee. Surprising skeptics, the International Energy Agency has announced that Iraq's oil exports have hit 3.6 million bpd, a record 30 year high, The Wall Street Journal reports. Previously exports were falling due to export bottlenecks, bad weather and extensive work on infrastructure, while some northern areas such as Kirkuk were adversely affected by insecurity. […]
By John Lee. Iraq's Ambassador to the US Lukman Faily (pictured) has joined the Lebanese Ambassador in Washington Antoine Chedid and a panel of experts to discuss the growing regional crisis of Syrian refugees and potential conflict overspill from the war. The event was hosted by The Washington Institute for Near East Policy and held […]
By John Lee. Tense negotiations between Baghdad and Italy's ENI came to a close just hours before ENI was supposedly going to call time on their Iraq operations, Reuters reports. ENI CEO Paulo Scaroni made his dissatisfaction clear to reporters on Tuesday before the new deal was struck, stating, "If they do not sign the contracts […]
By John Lee. Belgian sewage and water treatment firm Turbo4bio have announced the completion of the new waste water treatment plant at Kufa. The 50,000 cubic meter per day capacity installation involves new technology developed by the company CEO Hans H. Badreddine. Badreddine remarked how pleased he was with the completion of work at the […]
By John Lee. In its final results announcement this morning, Petrofac gave the following update on its operations in Iraq: Maintenance services, Iraq In August 2013, we were awarded a second contract by Gazprom Neft Badra B.V. (Gazprom) on the Badra oil field, situated 160 kilometres southeast of Baghdad. Worth US$95 million over three years, […]
By John Lee. Iraq is now among the biggest spenders in the Middle East when it comes to planned or under-way infrastructure projects, rivalling the expenditure of Saudi Arabia and the UAE, according to the MEED's Gulf Project's Index. Iraq's southern neighbours are spending $1.o5 trillion and $713bn respectively,but Iraq's rising expenditure on energy projects […]
On July 29, the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed alarm about the deterioration of the security situation in Iraq. "The Sectretary-General condemns, in the strongest terms, the acts of terrorism and the heightened sectarian violence, which are aimed at ripping apart the country's social fabric," Ban's spokesperson said in a statement. "The killing of […]
By John Lee. Iraq's Cabinet has authorized the Oil Ministry "to sign an agreement of principles" on two key oil and natural gas pipeline projects, reports Platts. The agreement will be between the Iraqi Oil Ministry, the Iranian Oil Ministry, and the Syrian Oil and Mineral Resources Ministry, and it relates to the construction of […]
Levels of violence fell in Iraq last week, but the overall number of attacks was still above average. At least 69 people were killed and 179 injured in nationwide incidents. A total of 48 bombings left 42 people dead and over 160 injured. A rise in small arms attacks left 27 people dead and 11 […]
