Category: Iraq

KRG President Masoud Barzani and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry addresses reporters at the presidential compound in Erbil on June 24, 2014. (Photo credit: U.S. State Department) Kurdish politicians are continuing negotiations to end a dispute over the legitimacy of Kurdistan President Massoud Barzani, whose term expired Thursday.Barzani’s Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) says he remains in power, while political rivals argue that Parliament Speaker Youssif Mohammed should become acting president for an interim period before elections can be held.While the legal picture remains clouded, on a practical level Barzani continues to wield power. On Wednesday his party… This content is for registered users. Please login to continue. If you are not a registered user, you may purchase a subscription or sign up for a free trial .

Click here to view full article at www.iraqoilreport.com

Holding aloft signs reading “we are all Abadi” and waving national flags, Iraqis packed a central Baghdad square in a weekend show of support for their prime minister. The display of solidarity for Haidar al-Abadi as he targets the corrupt and shrinks his government was a welcome change at a pivotal moment for a leader more used to bad news. Swathes of Iraq are under Islamic State control, sectarian divisions fester and the economy is slumping. “Abadi’s got the people on his side as well as the religious authorities,” said Sajad Jiyad, an analyst at the Baghdad-based Iraqi Institute for Economic Reform . “If he makes the reforms stick and improves people’s lives, we’ll look back on this as a defining moment,” he said. If he can’t and his rivals fight back, “things could take a turn for a worse.” After weeks of street protests against graft and poor […]

Click here to view full article at www.bloomberg.com

Kurdish government of Iraq says salaries for forces combating terrorism may be curbed following attacks on a key oil pipeline running north to a Turkish sea port. UPI/Mohammed al Jumaily ERBIL, Iraq, Aug. 19 (UPI) — The Kurdish government said theft and sabotage targeting an oil pipeline running to the Turkish sea port of Ceyhan has cost it around half a billion dollars. A section of the Kirkuk-Ceyhan oil pipeline, running from northern Iraq to Turkish ports, was bombed in southern Sirnak province in Turkey in late July. The pipeline has a maximum capacity of around 400,000 barrels of oil per day and serves as a main artery for the export of oil from the Kurdish north of Iraq. The Kurdish Ministry of Natural Resources said attacks, as well as pilfering, on the pipeline are a threat to the welfare of its constituents . "The estimated revenue loss to […]

Click here to view full article at www.upi.com

Iraq hired banks for its first international bond issue in almost a decade, seeking $6 billion to help plug a widening fiscal deficit. The government appointed Citigroup Inc., Deutsche Bank AG and JPMorgan Chase & Co., said Muneer Mohammed Omran, director general of the central bank’s investor department in Baghdad. The bond program will be in tranches, with the first sale coming this year, he said by phone Tuesday. Spokesmen for the banks declined to comment. Iraq, holder of the world’s fifth-largest oil reserves, is looking to bolster its finances amid civil conflict and the global slump in oil prices. Fitch Ratings expects the fiscal deficit to top 10 percent for 2015 because of lower crude prices, higher military spending and costs associated with civil unrest. It ranked Iraq five levels below investment grade this month in its first ratings for the country. “Iraq is going through some difficulties […]

Click here to view full article at www.bloomberg.com

Kurdistan President Massoud Barzani speaks in Dohuk on Aug. 3, 2015. (ARI JALAL/Reuters) Kurdistan’s oil revenue flows have become clogged in the political controversy engulfing the region over the tenure of President Massoud Barzani.The Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Finance Ministry said Tuesday it has not received any money from June or July oil sales, and called on the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) to release the funds. The MNR blamed the Finance Ministry for failing to effect the transfers.The MNR is controlled by Barzani’s Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) … This content is for registered users. Please login to continue. If you are not a registered user, you may purchase a subscription or sign up for a free trial .

Click here to view full article at www.iraqoilreport.com

Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar Al-Abadi has abolished four ministries and cut his cabinet to 22 from 33 in a push to cut wasteful government spending as lower oil prices choke off revenue. Three deputy prime minister positions and four ministries, including those overseeing human rights and women’s affairs, were scrapped, according to a decree posted Sunday on Al-Abadi’s website. The responsibilities of eight other ministries will be merged into four. Thousands of Iraqis took to the streets in recent weeks to protest corruption in OPEC’s second-biggest oil producer. With the plunge in crude and the battle against Islamic State militants depleting state coffers, bribery and abuse of power are compounding the nation’s economic woes. Iraq is among the world’s most corrupt nations, according to an index compiled by Transparency International. Ayatollah Ali Al Sistani, Iraq’s top Shiite cleric, urged the prime minister on Aug. 7 to tackle the problem […]

Click here to view full article at www.bloomberg.com

Iraqis shout slogans during a protest on Aug. 1, 2015 in the southern Iraqi city of Basra. (AFP/Getty Images) The Iraqi oil capital of Basra has begun a significant reshuffling of the local government, following the national Parliament’s approval Tuesday of a major initiative in governance reform spearheaded by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.The changes in Basra, announced Wednesday and Thursday, are affecting several entities that interact with international oil companies and other foreign investors, including the governor’s office, the investment commission, and district and sub-district councils…. This content is for registered users. Please login to continue. If you are not a registered user, you may purchase a subscription or sign up for a free trial .

Click here to view full article at www.iraqoilreport.com

Residents gather at the site of a truck bomb attack at a crowded market in Baghdad ,August 13,2015. At least 60 people were killed and 200 wounded in a blast on Thursday at a market in Baghdad’s Sadr City district, police and medical sources said, one of the largest attacks on the capital since Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi took office a year ago. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing in the Shi’ite Muslim neighborhood, but Islamic State, Sunni militants who seized swathes of northern and western Iraq last year, regularly send bombers into the capital. "A refrigerator truck packed with explosives blew up inside Jamila market at around 6 a.m. (0300 GMT)," police officer Muhsin al-Saedi said. "Many people were killed and body parts were thrown on top of nearby buildings." The market in the northeastern suburb is one of the biggest in Baghdad selling […]

Click here to view full article at www.reuters.com

Navy fighter jets roar off this nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in support of Iraqi troops approachingRamadi, a city in Anbar Province overrun by Islamic State fighters in one of the worst Continue Reading

Iraq’s cabinet has approved Prime Minister Haider al-Abbadi’s proposal to overhaul the government bureaucracy, scrapping three vice presidential posts and the offices of three deputy prime ministers. The cabinet backed the proposed reforms on Sunday, which still needs parliamentary approval. The six posts under threat represented various political and sectarian blocs in the government. The plan also effectively would push out of government former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, widely criticised for inflaming sectarian tensions and appointing loyal, less-qualified senior officers to Iraq’s military ahead of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group’s advance last year. However, al-Maliki issued a short statement backing the proposed plan. The proposal followed weeks of demonstrations, and a call for tougher reform measures from top Shia cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who is revered by millions of Iraqis. Political shockwaves On Sunday evening, Kurdistan’s regional government welcomed the decision and vowed […]

Click here to view full article at www.aljazeera.com