Category: Iraq

Photo Members of Iraq’s Shiite militia and security forces gathered on Monday in Anbar Province. Credit Reuters Seven weeks after their frenetic retreat from Ramadi, Iraqi security forces are preparing to mount a counteroffensive in the coming weeks to try to reclaim the pivotal western Iraqi city from the Islamic State, American and Iraqi officials say. Since the Islamic State seized Ramadi in May, about 2,000 militant fighters have been building up defenses — including rigging empty buildings with explosives. Struggling to regain the momentum in its campaign to “degrade” and ultimately defeat the Islamic State, the militant group also known as ISIS or ISIL, the Obama administration wants the Iraqis to retake the city before the militants dig in even more. At the Pentagon on Monday, President Obama said the fall of Ramadi was a setback that had “galvanized” the Iraqi government and accelerated an American effort that […]

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The processing facilities run by the Sharjah-based company Dana Gas at the Khor Mor field in Iraqi Kurdistan. (BEN VAN HEUVELEN/Iraq Oil Report) A multi-billion dollar dispute between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and its largest gas sector investor continues, as an international arbitration court issued a second, partial ruling on July 2.The ruling itself remains confidential, and the two sides have offered vastly different characterizations of its contents. But the stakes are high, with claims and counter-claims worth billions of dollars, and the fate of Kurdistan’s most prospective gas assets hanging in the balance.I… 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 .

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BAGHDAD (AP) — Authorities in Iraq say bombings targeting Shiite districts have killed 15 people in and around Baghdad. Police officials say a bomb exploded Sunday night near a cafe in the Shiite district of al-Obeidi on the eastern edge of Baghdad, killing four people and wounding 14 others. Another evening bomb blast near a small restaurant killed four people and wounded 11 others in the southeastern suburb of Jisr Diyala. Earlier, a bomb went off at a bus stop in the northeastern suburbs of the capital, killing four people and wounding nine. Another bombing near a bus stop killed three people in Baghdad’s northwestern district of Shulla. Hospital officials confirmed the casualties. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to talk to reporters.

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BAGHDAD Islamic State suicide bombers and fighters attacked the center of Iraq’s northern oil refinery town of Baiji overnight, forcing the army and Shi’ite fighters to pull back, military sources and the local mayor said on Sunday. The town of Baiji and its refinery – Iraq’s largest – have been a battlefront for more than a year. The hardline Islamists seized the town in June 2014 as they swept through much of northern Iraq towards the capital Baghdad. Control of Baiji neighborhoods has changed hands many times during the conflict. The latest Islamic State offensive comes after authorities said they controlled nearly the whole town and expected to drive insurgents from the refinery within days. The militants attacked around 8 pm (1300 EDT) on Saturday with two suicide car bombings. The blasts were followed by fierce clashes that lasted until midnight and drove the army and mainly Shi’ite Hashd […]

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By Matt Bradley BAGHDAD–An oil-sales deal between Iraq and the semiautonomous Kurdistan Regional Government is close to collapse about six months after it was signed, undermining the country’s unity as it struggles to fight Islamic State and contain an escalating financial crisis. Months of acrimony between Baghdad and Erbil, the KRG’s capital, came to a head in June, when the Kurdish side reduced the amount of oil it sold through Iraq’s state-owned Oil Marketing Company, known as SOMO, and began ramping up its independent sales of oil through the Turkish port at Ceyhan. The sales undercut an agreement struck in December that gave Iraq’s central government access to revenue from Kurdish oil, which accounts for about 15% of the 3.8 million barrels the country pumps each day on average. In exchange, the Kurds were to get 17% of federal expenditure–an amount KRG officials say hasn’t materialized. "The oil deal […]

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The UN children’s agency says 3,000 people a week are fleeing western Anbar province. Photo: UNHCR Overwhelming numbers of displaced families fleeing violence in Iraq and a lack of funding have left the UN potentially unable to bring in supplies for August, the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF warned Tuesday. In the year since terrorist fighters swept through Iraq’s central provinces, some eight million people have been affected. UNICEF says that number could rise to 10 million by the end of the year. Daniel Johnson has more. According to UNICEF’s country representative Colin McInness, many basic services have collapsed, a year since extremists from the ISIL group launched their offensive in central Iraq. And he said nearly 3,000 people a week are fleeing western Anbar province. "These people require water, they require hygiene, they require basic shelter, they require basic food items. The funding situation is desperate; without adequate funding […]

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Tankers dock at the Al-Basra Oil Terminal, the principal export point for Iraqi oil. (BEN LANDO/Iraq Oil Report) Iraq set another record for oil sales in June, compensating for reduced exports from the north with a big jump in Basra output.With 3.187 million barrels per day (bpd) of exports in June, Iraq broke its previous records – 3.145 million bpd in May, and 3.077 million bpd in April – and notched its fifth month-on-month increase in a row, according to data released Wednesday by Iraq’s Oil Ministry.The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) also autonomously exported an estimated 360,000 bpd… 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 .

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Iraq’s oil exports climbed to a record in June as the drive for market share intensified with the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries boosting output. Overseas shipments by OPEC’s second-biggest producer averaged 3.187 million barrels a day in June, based on monthly shipments of 95.612 million barrels, according to Asim Jihad, an Oil Ministry spokesman. Exports rose 1.3 percent from 3.145 million barrels a day in May. Iraq joined Saudi Arabia in pumping more oil as OPEC members defend market share against higher-cost producers. Brent crude has climbed 10 percent this year, spurring speculation that higher prices will lead to even more output and prolong a surplus. Oil Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said last month that Iraq was approaching 4 million barrels a day. It ended June with daily output at a record of 4.388 million barrels, according to a Bloomberg survey. Total output of OPEC’s 12 members rose […]

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Gas flares burn at the Kirkuk oil field on Jan. 06, 2010. (MARWAN IBRAHIM/AFP/Getty Images) A senior official at the state-run North Oil Company, who was last year put forward to be the next director general, was assassinated as he left work on Sunday.Two senior North Oil Company (NOC) officials confirmed the events.Unknown gunmen shot Saad Hassan Mohammed Ali, the director of the NOC Operations Division, as he left his office in the normally secured Arafa neighborhood around 1:15 p.m. local time. The shooting happened less than 100 meters from the main gate of the NOC office c… 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 .

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