The latest news from Iraq – oil, gas, business and more – brought to you by Iraq Business News
By Simon Kent. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is rising again in Iraq, The Wall Street Journal reports. The piece notes General Electric's billion dollar contract in January, which is of course government spending, to highlight how multi-nationals are increasingly confident as the self declared Islamic State begins to collapse. The piece also notes how FDI is […]
By Simon Kent. Amnesty International, the world-wide human rights organization, has published a report warning of imminent humanitarian crisis as the offensive to liberate Mosul from the self declared Islamic State gathers momentum. The organization also warned the current humanitarian emergency, which has seen at least 3 million Iraqis displaced from their homes, is severely […]
By Wassim Bassem for Al Monitor. Any opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Iraq has been involved in many wars, but soon it will have to turn its attention to yet another front or risk being overwhelmed by an environmental crisis. Two coinciding […]
By Simon Kent. Prime Minister Haidar al Abadi has received a huge boost to his embattled reform campaign as parliament approved his initial choice for new Minister of Oil, Jabar Ali al Luaibi. Luaibi was formerly the head of the South Oil Company, and his appointment comes after difficult negotiations with the IMF, that included […]
By Simon Kent. Iran is to start exporting gas to Iraq from the South Pars field after a year long delay, Bloomberg reports. The shipments will begin at 7 million cubic meters a day for power generation in Baghdad. Another export route is planned for 2017, which will serve Basra, totaling 70 million cubic meters a day […]
By Simon Kent. Iraq's Maysan province, which borders Iran, has opened a new gas processing facility to treat associated gas from the Fakka and Bazargan fields. A statement from Iraq's Ministry of Oil did not say how much gas was being processed, but the gas had previously been flared and will now be used for power […]
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 […]
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 Mustafa Saadoun for Al Monitor. Any opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Alaa Abboud, the spokesman for the Peace Brigades, the armed faction of the Sadrist movement, said in a TV interview with a local Iraqi channel July 20, “We will […]
By Simon Kent. The self declared Islamic State have claimed an attack over the weekend in Baghdad at a checkpoint in Kadhimiyah, a district in Baghdad home to a major Shia mosque. The bombing occurred in heavy traffic near the Adnan checkpoint and wounded around 35 others. Since losing significant territory in Iraq, the so […]
