The latest news from Iraq – oil, gas, business and more – brought to you by Iraq Business News
Over the coming week terrorists are likely to attack Shi’ah worshippers marking the religious period of al-‘Ashura. Many pilgrims will travel to the holy city of Karbala for the event, which culminates on 17 December and has seen numerous bouts of violence in recent years. Security will be tighter than normal, but roadside attacks against […]
North Last week saw violence concentrated in Mosul, although attacks were also recorded in Tal ‘Afar, Kirkuk, Hawijah and Riyadh. Civilians and the Iraqi security forces bore the brunt, but with eight recorded fatalities the week was less bloody than normal for what is otherwise one of the most hostile parts of the country. In […]
Overview After a quiet ‘Eid ul-Adha levels of violence rose again last week, with at least 46 people killed and over 110 injured in attacks around Iraq. The majority of violence was concentrated in Baghdad and Mosul, with a scattering of activity around Kirkuk, Ba’qubah and the northern fringes of Salah ad-Din province. Basrah airport […]
Basrah airport has been hit by several mortars over the last week. Although no casualties were reported the facility was shut for several hours and flights delayed and cancelled as a result. Local militancy Blame has speculatively been assigned to local Shi'ah militia groups, such as those affiliated with the now splintered Jaysh al-Mahdi (the […]
The balance of risk and reward for investing in Iraq's vast oil reserves is changing, according to a report by Turner Investments. The report, called Oil in Iraq: A Profitable Gamble? considers safety risk for oil company employees and their families, risks to operations from bombs and landmines, and political risks ranging from a line of […]
National Alliance MP Hadi Al Amiri is holding the media responsible for creating tension over the government formation talks. I think that Iraq's politicians managed that well enough without us. The distrust continues, with Ayad Allawi, former prime minister, whose Iraqiya bloc won the most votes in the March elections now saying that the result […]
Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region, Barham Salih, visited major investment projects that are underway in Sulaymaniyah, the most populous city in the region. At a foundation stone-laying ceremony for Majidi Mall, a major retail building project, prime minister Salih said that direct investment in the Kurdistan Region has surpassed US$13bn. Investment won't stop there: […]
Committees don't just sit around in Iraq. On 19th October the Iraqi government created a committee to increase business and economic relations with Turkey. Now, a member of the committee has said that the two countries are going to increase commercial exchange up to $12bn in 2011, reports AKNews. This is a more than three-fold increase on previous […]
An Iraqi ministry has said that Australia supports its quest for World Trade Organisation membership, according to NINA. WTO membership will significantly boost investment in Iraq as well as increasing its access to goods and services due to fewer restrictions from WTO member countries. WTO membership takes almost as long to attain as agreement at a UN […]
Baghdad's airport road was considered the most dangerous motorway in the world, but the city is now turning it into "the most beautiful street in the world", according to AFP. The US military had called it "RPG alley" (that's rocket-propelled grenade), as road users were at the receiving end of particularly frequent attacks during 2006 and 2007. […]
It may be that the International DBX Trade Fair in Sulaymaniyah city in the Kurdistan region was one trade fair too many in Iraq, as it was unable to draw in the numbers that it wanted to in the four days to Sunday, 14th November. And yet, despite being held in the middle of nowhere easy […]
Further to our reports of major gas contracts being agreed in principal on 20 October for three fields holding 11 trillion cubic feet of gas (4 trillion cubic metres), most of them have now been signed. Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO), Kuwait Energy and Kogas won the right to operate Iraq's Mansuriyah gas fields and have committed to producing 320m cubic feet of […]
