Category: Iraq

BAGHDAD — Iraqi security forces and allied Shiite militias seized large parts of Tikrit on Tuesday, amid reports that most of the Islamic State militants battling to hold the city had begun retreating, security officials said. The progress came after a week of heavy fighting to retake Tikrit, a city in the so-called Sunni triangle that holds strategic and emotional importance in the effort to roll back the Islamic State’s lightning advance toward Baghdad in June. The offensive is the largest pro-government military operation yet, involving a combined force of more than 30,000. And if it succeeds, it would be a significant step in the march north to Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city and an early conquest for the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL. Still, previous announcements of victory for the Iraqi government have been reversed before, notably in parts of Anbar Province and at an oil […]

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Todd Kozel, then CEO of Gulf Keystone Petroleum, in a Jan. 9, 2014 company presentation announcing the restart of exports of Shaikan crude. (Source: GKP TV) of Iraq Oil Report Recommend 146 people recommend this. Sign Up to see what your friends recommend. Two former executives at the heart of Kurdistan’s oil contracting boom are wooing investors for a venture that would seek to profit from the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) financial crisis by providing a cash infusion now in exchange for a share of future oil revenues.The executives, Todd Kozel and Ian Hannam, are looking to form a private investment fund that would purchase the rights to a portion of the so-called "capacity building payments" (CBP) that the KRG will receive from s…

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March 10, 2015 EU and NATO member Hungary says it is considering sending 100 troops to join the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State militants in Iraq following an American request. Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto told journalists on March 10 that a parliament decision could come in mid-April "and Hungarian troops could arrive in Iraq during the second half of May." Szijjarto said, "Hungary is already a part of the conflict with the Islamic State, because it belongs to the Western community of values, which was attacked by the terrorist organization." He said the soldiers’ role would be to protect a training centre in Iraqi Kurdistan’s capital Erbil, in the north, where coalition troops are training local forces. The mission needs approval by a two-thirds majority in parliament, meaning that Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s Fidesz party needs one opposition vote. Based on reporting by AFP

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BLASTED: An aerial photograph showing what United States military officials describe as a Command and Control Facility in the town of Tikrit, Iraq, after air strikes appears in this recent undated military handout photograph. As the empire continues to collapse, imperialism and the blatant lies (that come with it) will no longer matter. The PTB will plow forward steamrolling anything in the unrelenting ways of “progress”. We all know what the perpetual war in the middle east is about. Most mindlessly go about filling the car and shopping, whispering to themselves, “We see it, we know it, we just are not allowed to say it”, for fear of losing the false sense of security that the deception of empire instill, through delusion of comfort and “security”. “Oh holy crude” sung to the tune of “Oh Canada.” Elijah and the Widow would be proud ( The Peak of The Oil […]

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(Bloomberg) — Iraq narrowed the discount for April crude deliveries to Asian buyers by the most since November 2011, joining other Middle East producers in raising official selling prices amid signs demand is improving. Iraq, OPEC’s second-biggest producer, will sell its Basrah Light crude at $2.80 a barrel below Middle East benchmark Oman and Dubai grades in April, the state-run Oil Marketing Co., known as SOMO, said Monday. That’s $1.30 less than the discount for March. Saudi Arabia last week increased the pricing terms for Arab Light sold to Asia, while Abu Dhabi and Qatar raised export prices. Saudi Arabia led a November decision by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to maintain output and defend market share against rising U.S. output that sent crude prices almost 50 percent lower in 2014. The imbalance in the global crude market will even out in the second half of this year, […]

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BAGHDAD — Iraq ’s largest offensive against Islamic State militants came a step closer to the city of Tikrit on Friday, with Shiite militiamen and Iraqi troops advancing into the town of Dour, according to Iraqi state television. Dour, just south of Tikrit, is home to Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, the highest-ranking member of Saddam Hussein’s government who was never captured after the 2003 American-led invasion. A prominent figure in the ruling Baath Party, he went on to make common cause with Islamist insurgents against American occupying troops and is now believed to be an ally of the Islamic State. Despite setbacks in some villages over the past four days, the Islamic State fighters have managed to hold on to Tikrit, using suicide attacks and roadside bombs to augment their defense against a pro-government force of at least 30,000, most of them from Iranian-backed Shiite militias. The militias have played […]

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Rick Vierbuchen (R), then president of ExxonMobil Upstream Ventures, shakes hands with Abdul Mahdy al-Ameedi, the director general of the Oil Ministry’s Petroleum Contracts and Licensing Directorate (PCLD), after signing an initial deal for the West Qurna 1 field on Nov. 5, 2009. (MOHAMMED AMEEN/Reuters) Iraq is asking international oil companies (IOCs) to propose amendments to their multi-billion dollar oil field contracts, in addition to cutting costs and slowing down projects this year, as Iraq’s financial crisis squeezes available funding. In a Feb. 9 letter to IOCs obtained by Iraq Oil Report, the Iraqi Oil Ministry said that the contracts and development activity should be changed in light of the recent crash in oil prices. "The consequence of the oil price fall is not just on the …

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Iraqi government forces have been slowed by roadside bombs and booby traps A military operation to retake the Iraqi city of Tikrit from Islamic State (IS) has caused about 28,000 people to flee their homes, the UN says. Those displaced are headed towards the city of Samarra, the UN said, but many families are stranded at checkpoints. Aid convoys carrying relief supplies are being sent to the area by UN agencies to help those affected. The operation to retake Tikrit, involving some 30,000 soldiers and Shia militiamen, is now in its fourth day. They are trying to encircle the IS fighters, but their advance has been slow due to the roadside bombs and booby traps planted since the city was overrun last June, says the BBC’s Jim Muir in Beirut. Iraqi jets and helicopters are supporting the ground troops but US-led coalition aircraft are not involved. Militants also set […]

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