The latest Kirkuk, Iraq Business News – security, land, farming, infrastructure and more – brought to you by Iraq Business News
KRG statement on recent events at oil facilities and infrastructure in Makhmour district This morning, members of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and Kirkuk Oil Protection Forces moved to secure the oil fields of Bai Hassan and the Makhmour area, after learning of orders by officials in the federal Ministry of Oil in Baghdad to […]
By John Lee. Bloomberg reports that Iraqi Kurdistan will keep Peshmerga troops in the nearby oil hub of Kirkuk until people there can vote on whether to join the Kurdish enclave. Safeen Dizayee (pictured), spokesman of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), said: “As a people, we have the right to be independent, but the issue […]
From AFP. Any opinions expressed are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Iraqi Kurdish leader Massud Barzani said Friday there was no going back on autonomous Kurdish rule in oil city Kirkuk and other towns now defended against Sunni militants by Kurdish fighters.
By John Lee. The KRG's Minister for Natural Resources, Ashti Hawrami (pictured), has told Reuters that the Kurds have plans to increase their oil exports eight-fold by the end of 2015. He said Kurdish oil exports could double "within a month or so" to around 250,000 bpd and hit 400,000 bpd by the end of […]
From Al Jazeera. Any opinions expressed are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Millions of dollars worth of US made equipment has been reduced to wreckage in the Iraqi town of Kirkuk after a rebel led advance on the city. Sunni rebels captured Kirkuk's largest military […]
Lieutenant General Jabbar Yawar, Secretary-General of the KRG Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs and the Spokesperson of the Region’s armed forces, stated that Peshmerga forces (pictured) now control Kirkuk city after the Dijila Operations Command retreated from its position. He said, “Peshmerga forces are in control of the majority of the Kurdistan Region outside of KRG […]
By John Lee. Turkish energy minister Taner Yildiz (pictured) has hinted that his country will not sell oil from the port of Ceyhan until there has been an agreement between Baghdad and Erbil. Minister Yildiz noted that the Turkish Petroleum Refineries Corporation (TPAO) does not currently need to move the Iraqi oil in storage, although the […]
By John Lee. Iraq's northern Kirkuk-Ceyhan export pipeline has been inoperable since March due to sabotage, while attempts to repair it have been curtailed due to ongoing insurgent activity. Deputy prime minister for energy Hussein al-Shahristani (pictured) explained the urgency of the situation, noting that the area was secure enough to repair the pipeline, but […]
By John Lee. On 20th March, 2014, Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani announced a KRG goodwill initiative to make a contribution to Iraq oil export to give the ongoing negotiations with Baghdad the maximum chance of success. The Prime Minister stated that the contribution to oil export from the KRG would be 100,000 barrels per day, […]
By John Lee. Kurdish Regional Government PM Nechirvan Barzani (pictured) has offered to send 100,000 bpd of oil from the Kurdish region through the State Oil Marketing Company, Reuters reports. The move is designed to partially appease Baghdad in the on going and tortuous dispute over oil revenues and exports to Turkey. Currently over 1 million […]
By John Lee. Pumping along the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline has reportedly been halted since the beginning of March due to sabotage, and it is unclear when exports can re-start. Oil volume through the pipeline dropped almost a quarter in January (compared to January 2013), having already fallen by 37 percent in 2013 compared to 2012, according […]
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. […]
