President Masoud Barzani departed from Erbil International Airport on Tuesday with a high-level delegation to make his first official visit to the Russian Federation. During the visit, President Barzani is expected to meet senior Russian officials to discuss a number of important matters, including relations between the Kurdistan Region and the Russian Federation, political developments […]
By John Lee. The Chairman of Russia's LUKoil, Vagit Alekperov, has signed an amendment to the contract to develop the West Qurna-2 oil field with the South Oil Company (SOC). According to the amendment, the 18.75 percent share of the project formerly owned by the Norwegian company Statoil is to be taken over by LUKoil, […]
By John Lee. Iraq and the Russian state oil producer Gazprom Neft have awarded an $879 million contract to South Korea's Samsung Group to develop the Badra oil field in eastern Iraq. Samsung will design and build phase two of a central processing facility (CPF) for oil production in the field, which is expected to […]
By John Lee. According to a report from NINA, the Iraqi government decided today (Thursday) to end the official contract for Ali al-Dabbagh as the Iraqi government Spokesman. Dabbagh stated earlier: "I'm the first one who alerted the Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to the possible existence of suspicions of corruption regarding arms deal with Russia." […]
By John Lee. Reuters reports that LUKoil, Russian’s biggest non-state oil producer, which is believed to be considering buying ExxonMobil's stake in the West Qurna-1 oil field, has bought oil from Kurdistan in defiance of Baghdad. Baghdad has long insisted it has the sole right to export oil, but LUKoil's Geneva-based trading arm Litasco has […]
By Amir Hassan Fayad. This article was originally published by Niqash. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Iraq and Russia have been getting cosy lately with high ranking visitors and multi-billion dollar arms deals. Is this friendship just a business opportunity? Related […]
By John Lee. Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh (pictured) has announced that the country is to renegotiate the recent $4.2-billion weapons deal with Russia: "It will renegotiate with Russia to put an end to suspicions of corruption in the weapons deal", he said. The turnaround follows the ouster of Russia's defense minister earlier this week, […]
By Abdul-Khaleq Dosky. This article was originally published by Niqash. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. The tension between Iraqi Kurdistan and the leadership in Baghdad doesn’t seem to have diminished lately. NIQASH asked the Iraqi Kurdish why the Russians and Exxon […]
By John Lee. The Iraqi Government has reportedly told Gazprom Neft, the oil arm of Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom, to abandon oil deals in Kurdistan or face losing the lucrative Badra oilfield contract. The field, which is estimated to have reserves of 100 million barrels, is being developed by Gazprom (30%), Korea’s KOGAS (22.5%), […]
By John Lee. Exxon Mobil has informed the Iraqi government that it wants to pull out of the $50-billion West Qurna-1 oilfield project, according to a report from Reuters. Abdul Mahdi Al Ameedi, director of the oil ministry’s Petroleum Contracts and Licensing Directorate (PCLD), said: "Exxon has stated in its letter that it has started discussions […]
Iraq has signed a deal with Russia's LUKoil, and Inpex Corp of Japan, to explore the 5,500-square-kilometer (2,100 square mile) Block 10 in Muthanna and Dhi Qar province. Under the contract, the two firms must invest at least $100 million and will be paid $5.99 for each barrel of oil equivalent it finds. "This contract represents […]
By John Lee. Iraq's Foreign Minister, Hoshyar Zebari, has met the Russian Ambassador, Mr. Elia Murgunov, and handed him a reply message to his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in response to his letter. The meeting was attended by Undersecretary for Policy Planning, Chairman of the Department of Europe and the Director of the Office of […]
