Oil provinces condemn default on petrodollar
Denmark’s Maersk Oil has acquired 40 percent stakes in two oil blocks in Kurdistan operated by Spain’s Repsol, and continues to investigate further expansion in the region.
Baghdad bomb blasts 'kill 16' as Iraq violence continues
At least 13 people have been killed in a series of bomb blasts across the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, say police and medics. At least 40 people were wounded in the explosions. The deadliest single attack, in which at least six people died, struck the south of the city. In an extended surge of violence, at least 759 people died in December alone. More than 650 have died so far in January, said AFP news agency.
Baghdad bomb blasts ‘kill 16’ as Iraq violence continues
At least 13 people have been killed in a series of bomb blasts across the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, say police and medics. At least 40 people were wounded in the explosions. The deadliest single attack, in which at least six people died, struck the south of the city. In an extended surge of violence, at least 759 people died in December alone. More than 650 have died so far in January, said AFP news agency.
Failed Talks With Militants Prompt Many to Flee in Iraq
Thousands of residents have fled Falluja in recent days, fearing worsening violence after the failure of negotiations between local leaders and jihadist militants to end a standoff that has lasted weeks, leaders from the city said Monday. A tentative agreement to allow the local police and other officials to return to the city fell apart on Sunday after militants, who took control of the city this month, briefly kidnapped tribal sheikhs and a local imam with whom they had been negotiating, people involved in the talks said. The failure of the negotiations was a blow to the government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, who has pledged that the army will not storm the city to dislodge the militants, including some linked to Al Qaeda. Instead, Mr. Maliki […]
NOC travels to Turkey to hamper KRG exports
Denmark’s Maersk Oil has acquired 40 percent stakes in two oil blocks in Kurdistan operated by Spain’s Repsol, and continues to investigate further expansion in the region.
Iraq Again Uses Sunni Tribesmen in Militant War
At a command center in western Anbar Province, Iraqi military officials are handing out guns and cash to local Sunni tribal fighters who are battling militants for control of Iraq’s largest province. The United States, at the same time, is rushing shipments of small arms and ammunition to the Iraqi government and urging the Iraqis to pass the weapons on to the tribes. As Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki struggles to put down an insurgency led by militants affiliated with Al Qaeda, he has embraced the same strategy the Americans used in 2007, one that has been attempted with varying degrees of success by the authorities here for nearly a century: paying and arming […]
Iraqi forces face resistance in trying to push last of al-Qaeda affiliates out of Ramadi
Iraqi forces faced fierce resistance as they launched an offensive Sunday to vanquish pockets of al-Qaeda-linked militants in the city of Ramadi, underscoring the resilience of insurgents, who have also dug in further east in Fallujah. With the Iraqi armed forces lacking expertise and equipment, the government’s struggle to secure the key cities has stoked concerns that the unrest will spread. A Super Scooper firefighting plane makes a water drop on the Colby Fire in Azusa, California January 16, 2014. The blaze broke out about an hour before sunrise in the Angeles National Forest north of Glendora and quickly spread to 1700 acres. Glendora is located about 40 miles (64 km) east of downtown Los Angeles, near the southern edge of the Angeles National Forest. REUTERS/Jonathan Alcorn (UNITED STATES – Tags: DISASTER ENVIRONMENT TRANSPORT) In an unnerving sign, Baghdad was put on lockdown Saturday night amid a […]
Iraq to sue Turkey, blacklist traders over Kurdish crude sales
Iraq’s oil minister said Friday that the country has started legal action against Turkey as part of the ongoing dispute over the semi-autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan region’s independent oil exports. "The Oil Ministry has taken the necessary procedures by asking the legal parties in Baghdad and Ankara to start the legal process to conduct a lawsuit against the Turkish government because it allows the [Kurdistan] region to pump oil through the export pipeline without the approval of the central government," Abdul Karim Luaibi said Friday, according to a statement given to Platts by the Oil Ministry. Over the past year, the Kurdistan Regional Government has built a 300,000 b/d pipeline within its northern Iraq territory and connected it to the 40-inch-diameter leg of the Iraq-Turkey Pipeline. Under a series of oil and gas export agreements signed between Erbil and Ankara late November, crude exports have […]
Bomb attacks kill 52 in Baghdad and Baquba: Iraqi police
Bomb attacks kill 52 in Baghdad and Baquba: Iraqi police January 15, 2014 10:28 AM (Last updated: January 15, 2014 11:14 AM) Reuters Civilians gather at the site of a car bomb attack in Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, January 15, 2014. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed Civilians gather at the site of a car bomb attack in Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, January 15, 2014. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed BAGHDAD: Bomb attacks hit the Iraqi capital Baghdad and a village near the northern town of Baquba on Wednesday, killing at least 52 people, police and hospital sources said. In the deadliest incident, a bomb blew up in a funeral tent where mourners were marking the death two days ago of a Sunni Muslim pro-government militiaman, police said. It killed 18 people and wounded 16 in Shatub, a village south of Baquba. Police had earlier put the death […]
Cabinet budget zeros out KRG revenue
Cabinet budget zeros out KRG revenue