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Iraq

WTO director general Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said Iraq and Lebanon both want to resume talks and the organisation will 'try to go as fast as possible'

Iraq and Lebanon face long wait to join WTO

Iraq and Lebanon have indicated a desire to resume talks aimed at joining the World Trade Organization (WTO), but history suggests the two could be in for a long wait. To join the WTO, a government has to bring its economic and trade policies into line with the organisation’s rules and principles and negotiate with […]

Baghdad South power plant: Iraq generates 80% of its power using fossil fuels

Iraq plans push on solar and green hydrogen projects

Iraq is planning to build solar plants and its first green hydrogen project as part of a strategy to tackle power shortages and reduce its carbon footprint. The country’s cabinet has approved a proposal to install 12 gigawatts (GW) of solar power by 2030, said a National Investment Commission representative, Rahim Al Jaafari. Projects capable […]

Iraq is planning a rail project to serve the population of Baghdad, which is expected to grow by a million by 2030

Iraq seeks investors for rail projects in Baghdad and beyond

Iraq is seeking investors for two major rail projects including a seven-line metro system to serve Baghdad’s growing population. The National Investment Commission (NIC) has issued International Investment Opportunity documents for Baghdad metro and phase one of a 90km four-station railway linking Najaf International Airport with Karbala city centre. Investors have until April 11 to […]

Crescent Petroleum CEO Majid Jafar

UAE’s Crescent can help Iraq meet its energy needs, says CEO

Iraq’s energy needs offer great potential for growth for Crescent Petroleum, the oldest private oil and gas company in the UAE, its group chief executive Majid Jafar has told AGBI.  The Sharjah-headquartered company has built an important presence in Iraq, where it has invested nearly $4 billion, mainly in the Kurdistan region. “We operate the […]

Workers work at Majnoon oil field in Iraq. The country aims to increase output to 7 million barrels per day.

Saudi Arabia hits brakes as others push oil output capacity

Saudi Arabia may have shelved plans to raise oil output capacity but the UAE, Kuwait and Iraq believe global crude demand will grow and are gearing up for expansion, according to industry observers. Although Opec is implementing production cuts to stabilise the market over the near term, its core members are focused on longer-term commitments, […]

PIF will acquire a 25% stake in Alkhorayef Petroleum through capital infusion and subscription to new shares

Dana Gas profit falls 12% on lower hydrocarbon prices

Profits at Abu Dhabi-listed Dana Gas fell 12.1 percent year on year to AED586 million ($160 million) in 2023 as a result of lower hydrocarbon prices. However, the company reported a production increase in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and reduced operating costs.  Revenue decreased 20 percent year on year to AED1.55 billion. Operational costs fell […]

Unable to afford costly medicines, these Iraqi women buy traditional herbal remedies at a shop in Baghdad

Saudi deal ‘unlikely to cure Iraq’s pharma problems’

Iraq has turned to Saudi Arabia to help it improve its healthcare industry and increase pharmaceutical manufacturing. The ministries of health for both countries are collaborating to boost private healthcare in Iraq and foster partnerships to speed up the establishment of local pharmaceutical factories. However analysts say the impact of the partnership will be limited […]

Total Gulf deposits with Egypt's central bank stood at $29.9 billion as of March 2023

Iraq bans eight local banks from US dollar transactions

Iraq has banned eight local commercial banks from engaging in US dollar transactions, taking action to reduce fraud, money laundering and other illegal uses of US currency, days after a visit by a top US treasury official. The banks are banned from accessing the Iraqi central bank’s daily dollar auction, a main source of hard […]

From left: Ora Developers Group chairman Naguib Sawiris, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed S Al-Sudani and Iraqi housing minister Bangin Rekani at the contract award ceremony

Egyptian developer to build Iraq’s largest housing project

Egypt’s Ora Developers Group will build the largest residential city in Iraq’s capital, Baghdad, which will feature 100,000 residential units. The contract was awarded by the Iraqi government. No details of the project cost were given. Ali Al-Wardi, a smart city project located 25 km southeast of Baghdad, will be built on an area of […]

A subsidiary of the logistics firm Agility provided a loan to Korek telecom in 2007

Iraqi Kurdistan ordered to pay $490m to Kuwaiti firm

Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) must pay Kuwaiti logistics company Agility $490 million after a Kuwaiti court rejected its appeal against an earlier award for the same amount, in the latest setback for the financially stricken administration. The KRG had guaranteed a $250 million loan that an Agility subsidiary, Alcazar Capital Partners, provided to Erbil-based […]

Crude oil drips from a well Taqa Kurdistan oil

Taqa to sell entire stake in Kurdistan oilfield

Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa) has agreed to sell its entire stake in the Atrush oilfield in Iraqi Kurdistan to Canada’s ShaMaran Petroleum. Through its subsidiary Taqa International, the company has entered into a definitive agreement with ShaMaran subsidiary General Exploration Partners (GEP), Taqa said in a filing to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange […]

Demand for cement in Iraq is growing for the development of civil infrastructure

Iraq cement company gets $130m to double production

A major Iraqi cement manufacturer has secured financing of up to $130 million to support plans to more than double annual production. The International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank, is investing in Al-Douh Iraqi Company for Cement Industries to create thousands of jobs and to bolster reconstruction efforts.  IFC is providing a […]

Asiacell store Baghdad Iraq telecoms

Iraq’s biggest telecoms firms tap into resurgent market

Lower taxes, improved political stability and troubles at a smaller rival have helped Iraq’s top two telecoms operators reverse a decline in earnings. Now the duo, Zain Iraq, a subsidiary of Kuwait’s Zain, and Asiacell, which is majority owned by the former Qatari telecom monopoly Ooredoo, should prosper further in 2024. Zain and Asiacell have […]

Dubai Mercantile Exchange will be rebranded as Gulf Mercantile Exchange to reflect its position as a regional commodities exchange

Korek Telecom fights $1.65 billion award to partners

A Dubai court will next month hear whether it should scrap a $1.65 billion award against an Iraqi telecom operator and its politically connected top shareholder. The long-running dispute underscores the risk that foreign investors face in Iraq, a country devastated by decades of conflict and sanctions and which is among the world’s most corrupt […]

Turkish minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said the Development Road project is in the final stages

Turkish minister hints UAE and Qatar joining mega project

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar are considering joining the mega Development Road project, which will link southern Iraq to Turkey, a senior Turkish minister has said.  “We will implement the project hopefully, in collaboration with Iraq. The UAE and Qatar also seem to be interested in this process,” transport and infrastructure minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu […]

PetroChina now operates West Qurna 1 oilfield in Basra, Iraq, one of the world's largest oilfields

PetroChina takes control of Iraqi oilfield from ExxonMobil

US energy giant ExxonMobil Corp has officially exited the West Qurna 1 oilfield in Iraq, handing over its operations to Chinese oil and gas major PetroChina as lead contractor. “We are meeting today to bid farewell to ExxonMobil, and at the same time we congratulate PetroChina for becoming the lead contractor,” Basim Mohammed, deputy oil […]

Bader Al-Kharafi and Aziz Aluthman Fakhroo

Gulf telcos sign deal to create $2bn tower company

Telecom operators Ooredoo and Zain Group on Tuesday said agreements have been signed to create the largest tower company in the Middle East and North Africa. The cash and share deal, which also involves Dubai-based Tasc Towers Holding, will establish a company comprising 30,000 telecom towers in Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, Iraq, Algeria and Tunisia, with […]

Water scarcity in Iraq is impacting on Mustafa Ahmed, 13, forcing his family to sell their buffalo

UAE pledges $150m for Mena water security

A $150 million commitment from the UAE at Cop28 to fund water security solutions in vulnerable countries is a step in the right direction but more must be done to address the issue, say experts. Speaking at a panel discussion at the climate change conference in Dubai, Ramadan Assi, executive adviser for strategic partnerships at […]

The Kaombo Norte floating oil platform in Angola.

Market confusion over Opec+ cuts hits oil prices

Oil prices fell further on Friday after tumbling sharply when Opec+ announced more production cuts amid suspicions that quotas will not be adhered to. Brent, the main international benchmark, traded at $80.66, down from $84.37 on Thursday, while West Texas intermediate was flat at $75.94.  Saudi Arabia, Russia and other members of Opec+ announced on […]

Phosphate mining in Morocco

Future is rosy for Mena phosphate producers

With Morocco and Saudi Arabia now holding the bulk of the world’s high-quality, accessible phosphate rock reserves, the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region is a major centre for the phosphate mining industry’s future growth, analysts say. Morocco alone holds around 70 percent of the world’s total reserves of phosphate rock, the raw material […]

Iraq becomes member of European development bank

Iraq has become the 74th member of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the multilateral lender said on Thursday, while Ghana and Senegal have also applied to join. Iraq first submitted its request to join the bank in 2018, and its shareholder status enables it to apply to become a recipient economy, which would […]

AGBI Gulf net zero

Download our exclusive report on the Gulf’s path to net zero

As the world shifts towards cleaner sources of energy, the GCC’s oil and gas-producing nations find themselves faced with the dual threat of environmental and economic crisis. What are they doing about it?  In this special report published as the UAE prepares to stage the United Nations’ Cop28 climate change summit, AGBI examines the Gulf’s […]