Category: Iraq

Iraq’s deputy prime minister called on the government in the Kurdish north to respond to a proposal from Baghdad on oil sales from the region. Deputy Prime Minister Hussein al-Shahristani sent a written proposal to the Kurdish government calling for oil sales from the region to be handled by the State Oil Market Organization. Once funds are deposited, the Kurdish government would draw 17 percent of its share in the revenue to pay oil companies, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. Genel Energy, a company with large investments in the Kurdish north, said in mid-January exports of Kurdish oil through a pipeline to Turkey are "expected to commence in the near future." The Kurdistan Regional Government has already sent oil to a storage facility at the Turkish port of Ceyhan and Genel said deliveries should ramp up throughout 2014. A January announcement from the […]

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An Iraqi official says militants have stormed a government office in eastern Baghdad, triggering a firefight with police and a siege of the building by security forces. Interior Ministry spokesman, Saad Maan Ibrahim, says at least six gunmen stormed the state-run Company for Transportation on Thursday morning. Maan told state TV the police shot and killed three of the militants while the rest remain inside. Maan says security forces managed to get most of the employees out. It was unclear if anyone remained inside the building or was taken hostage. The brazen attack comes as Iraq is facing a stubborn insurgency in the country’s western Anbar province led by a local al-Qaida branch, which seeks to undermine government efforts to maintain security ahead of national elections on April 30. © 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or […]

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Iraqi government forces battling al-Qaeda-linked militants intensified airstrikes and artillery fire on the rebel-held city of Fallujah on Sunday, and at least seven people were killed there, according to hospital officials and tribal leaders. Religious and tribal leaders in the city, 30 miles west of Baghdad, said they feared an imminent assault by the army to expel militants and end a three-week standoff that has driven thousands of people from their homes. The al-Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, which is also fighting in neighboring Syria, took control of Fallujah and parts of nearby Ramadi, the provincial capital, on Jan. 1 with the help of sympathetic armed tribesmen. epa04044646 Icebreaker ‘Goermitz’ of the Stralsund Waterways and Shipping Office breaks floes in the access route to the Peenestrom harbour in Wolgast, Germany, 27 January 2014. Weather forcasts predict even more snow in the eastern regions of […]

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The Iraqi Cabinet has increased revenue redistribution to oil and gas producing provinces, adding another $5.8 billion to the petrodollar allocation – and the ballooning draft 2014 budget – and heading off an exacerbating chorus of protest from provincial officials such as Basra and Missan, which had threatened to shut in production. The Cabinet decision follows weeks of protest and the formation of a coalition of governors of oil-producing provinces that publicly demanded action by the c…

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The Dubai firm has started looking for candidates for senior management posts including for the position of CEO. By Neil Churchill 1 hour ago Arabtec has announced plans to open an office in Baghdad in an effort to capitalise on Iraq’s growing oil and gas infrastructure. The Dubai construction firm said it expects Iraq to become its most lucrative construction market and it is already in advanced talks with a number of clients for large-scale projects in the country. An Arabtec statement said a major reason for the new office is to pave the way for its recently formed JV with Samsung Engineering and the soon to be announced JV with GS Engineering and Construction. “We see great potential for Arabtec in Iraq. Our physical presence there will enable us to capitalize on the significant new business opportunities that are available particularly in oil and gas and infrastructure,” said […]

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Iraq will lose out on investment that could create jobs and spur economic growth unless it pulls itself out of a “vicious cycle”, says an Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development official. The private sector regards Iraq as high risk, so it limits itself to projects with the potential of high returns. That means the manufacturing projects that can create jobs and sustainable economic growth are less likely to come to the country, said Anders Jönsson, a policy analyst at the OECD “There appears to be something of a vicious cycle in Iraq today,” Mr Jönsson said at the Iraq Finance forum in Dubai yesterday. “What Iraq needs to do is to lower this bar and to lower the risks so more projects get done.” The high bar today is stifling projects from public-private partnerships to even simple landfills, he said. Investors’ perceptions are grounded in regulatory, security and […]

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Excess gas is burned off near workers at the Rumala oil field a project with CNOOC Iraq has for the first time begun preparing for a return to the Opec production quota system , in a shift of policy that reduces the prospect of oversupply and lower prices in global oil markets. Iraq , whose oil industry has recovered rapidly since the US-led invasion a decade ago, is expected to be one of the largest sources of supply growth in the oil market over the next decade. With North American output also rising rapidly due to the shale revolution, some analysts have raised the prospect of a supply glut unless Opec , the cartel of oil exporters, can control production. Until now Iraq has insisted that other members of the producers’ group, which controls around a third of the world’s oil production, should accommodate its growth. But speaking to […]

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Iraq is nearing the start-up of a gasoline-producing unit that will boost overall processing capacity to more than 210,000 b/d at state-owned South Refineries Co.’s 140,000-b/d refinery in Basra Province. The 70,000-b/d unit is designed to help the country’s manufacturing sector to meet rising local need for oil-derived products, Iraq’s Minister of Oil Abdul Karim Laibi said in a Jan. 28 release from the ministry. Commissioning of the unit comes as part of a series of projects being implemented by the oil ministry to increase processing capacity at the refinery ( OGJ Online, Dec. 20, 2011 ), which also will include improvements to existing isomerization and naphtha units at the plant, Laibi said. No specific timeframes were disclosed for either the unit’s start-up or future improvement projects at the refinery.

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