Cursor International executes projects and collaboration activities across several industries.
By John Lee.
Iran’s gas and electricity exports to Iraq are reportedy expected to reach $5 billion by the end of the current Iranian calendar year, which ends on March 21, 2020.
Mehr news agency quotes the Secretary General of Iran-Iraq Joint Chamber, Seyed Hamid Hosseini, as saying that if Iraq agrees it is possible for Iran to barter the necessary goods in return for the gas and electricity, the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) “should cooperate in this regard“.
(Source: Tehran Times)
By John Lee.
The Iraqi Cabinet held its regular meeting in Baghdad on Tuesday under the chairmanship of Prime Minister, Adil Abd Al-Mahdi, at which it discussed a series of recommendations by the Ministerial Committee for Energy regarding a number of strategic projects aimed at increasing Iraq’s oil production and exporting capacities.
The Cabinet approved the proposed Iraq-Jordan oil pipeline, and the construction of offshore oil exporting facilities in Iraq’s territorial waters in the Gulf.
it also discussed a number of infrastructure and service projects and approved a proposal from the Ministry of Construction and Housing for a pedestrian bridge in the Gherai’at area in Baghdad.
The Cabinet also approved several measures to encourage Iraqi, Arab and international investment in Iraq, including further action to cut red tape and streamline procedures.
The Cabinet approved a draft law on the accession by the Republic of Iraq to the 1997 Protocol to amend the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (1973) as modified by the 1978 Protocol.
(Source: Govt of Iraq)
By John Lee.
The Iraq Britain Business Council (IBBC) has announced that it has established a Health Sector Table.
This Table will be chaired by Professor David Kerr, Rhodes Professor of Clinical Pharmacology and Cancer Therapeutics, and Head of Department of Clinical Pharmacology at Oxford University.
It is being supported by the Iraqi Minister of Health and the Environment, Dr Ala Alwan, who attended its first meeting.
The Table’s first meeting was held at IBBC’s offices on the morning of Friday 28th June. Its purpose is to allow relevant member organisations to become involved in the further development of the Iraqi health sector.
Healthcare is a priority for IBBC, and the Minister will personally be liaising with this Table. Also present at this meeting were representatives of Almanseer Insurance, Serco, Protechnique, GE Healthcare, Perkins+Will UK, PwC, Management Partners, and The Amar Foundation.
For more information on the Iraq Britain Business Council, visit https://www.iraqbritainbusiness.org/
(Source: IBBC)
By John Lee.
The Iraq Britain Business Council (IBBC) has announced that it has established a Health Sector Table.
This Table will be chaired by Professor David Kerr, Rhodes Professor of Clinical Pharmacology and Cancer Therapeutics, and Head of Department of Clinical Pharmacology at Oxford University.
It is being supported by the Iraqi Minister of Health and the Environment, Dr Ala Alwan, who attended its first meeting.
The Table’s first meeting was held at IBBC’s offices on the morning of Friday 28th June. Its purpose is to allow relevant member organisations to become involved in the further development of the Iraqi health sector.
Healthcare is a priority for IBBC, and the Minister will personally be liaising with this Table. Also present at this meeting were representatives of Almanseer Insurance, Serco, Protechnique, GE Healthcare, Perkins+Will UK, PwC, Management Partners, and The Amar Foundation.
For more information on the Iraq Britain Business Council, visit https://www.iraqbritainbusiness.org/
(Source: IBBC)
By John Lee.
The Iraqi government has issued a report on the implementation of its 2018-2022 programme.
The report covers the period from October 2018, when the government came to office, to April 2019, providing an overview of what has been implemented from the government programme, identifying obstacles that may impede the completion of several projects, and outlining measures to address them.
Iraqi officials say that the report, the first of its kind to be issued by an Iraqi government, is an important measure to strengthen transparency and hold the government accountable before the Iraqi people and their parliamentary representatives.
Click here to download the report (Arabic only)
(Source: Government of Iraq)
This weekend, the Iraq Britain Business Council (IBBC) hosted its annual members’ retreat at Cumberland Lodge, Windsor Park, which was generously sponsored by Al Burhan Group.
As with previous years, it was very well attended by over seventy delegates, and allowed our members to mingle and network with representatives of other businesses, civil servants, and Iraqi government dignitaries.
Speakers and organisations represented included:
Sessions included discussions and panels on the state of Iraq, contemporary Middle Eastern politics, meetings for our various sector tables (including oil and gas, and construction and infrastructure), economic development strategies for Iraq, and how higher education partnerships could be developed between the UK and Iraq. A biannual council meeting for representatives of our member organisations was also held.
Christophe Michels, Managing Director of the IBBC was happy with how the weekend went:
“As in previous years the Retreat has attracted some of the finest minds from business, academia, politics, media and diplomacy working on Iraq to conduct truly meaningful and intimate discussions”.
Baroness Emma Nicholson, President of the IBBC and the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Iraq, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan said:
“IBBC has had a fantastically happy and hugely productive busy weekend. We call it a retreat, but I am not sure what it was a retreat from! People were working morning, noon, and night, and they were making great achievements, and huge strides in the various different table meetings…one of the best I can ever remember”.
For more information on the Iraq Britain Business Council, visit our website at https://www.iraqbritainbusiness.org/
(Source: IBBC)
JICA to Support Iraq’s Reconstruction and Revitalization through Upgrade of Basrah Refinery
Signing of Japanese ODA Loan Agreement for Iraq
On 16 June, 2019, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Iraqi Government signed a loan agreement at Ministry of Finance in Baghdad.
The ODA (Official Development Assistance) loan amounting to JPY 110,000 million (approximately USD 1 billion) will be used for Basrah Refinery Upgrading Project. The loan agreement was signed by H.E. Mr. Fuad Mohammed Hussein, Minister of Finance and Masayuki Hirosawa, Chief Representative of JICA Iraq Office, in the presence of H.E. Mr. Hamid Younis Salih, Deputy Minister of Oil and H.E. Mr. Naofumi Hashimoto, Japanese Ambassador to Iraq. This concessional ODA loan aims to support the Government of Iraq in its efforts to reconstruct the country and revitalize its economy.
The loan named “Basrah Refinery Upgrading Project (II)” is the second tranche loan for Basrah Refinery Upgrading Project, one of the mega projects known in the region. For the same project, JICA previously concluded two loan agreements for (i) the engineering services loan in the amount of JPY 2,079 million and (ii) the first tranche loan in the amount of JPY 42,435 million.
The entire project aims to increase the quantity and quality of oil products including gasoline, diesel and kerosene, by installing a new refining plant called Fluid Catalytic Cracking (FCC) Complex in Basrah Refinery, which is one of the biggest oil refineries currently operational in Iraq. It will be implemented by South Refineries Company, Ministry of Oil.
Iraq has the world’s fifth-largest proven oil reserves and is currently OPEC’s second-largest producer. Nevertheless, most of the existing refineries in the country have been shut down or decreased their production capacity, suffered from damages and deterioration in the previous decades of conflicts. Many of the plans to construct new refineries have faced with challenges and delays and are yet to achieve substantial increase of the refining capacity.
On the contrary, the ongoing reconstruction efforts in liberated areas and the revitalization of socio-economic activities across the country have prompted huge demand for fuels, such as gasoline and diesel. As a result, despite being one of the largest oil producers, Iraq has no choice but to import the significant amount of oil products from neighboring countries so as to meet the demand for transport, power generation and industrial production.
Against this backdrop, the project to construct Iraq’s first-ever FCC Complex will increase the volume of the high-value added oil products, promote the transfer of refining technologies from Japan and help save valuable foreign currencies to import huge amount of fuels. The new plant will also reduce sulfur content in the products in accordance with the international environmental standards. Furthermore, the project is expected to pave the way for energizing private sector involvement in the downstream of Iraq’s energy industry and provide economic opportunities for the people of Iraq, especially in Basrah.
The loan is very concessional with the low interest rate and long repayment period: the interest rate of 0.20% and the repayment period of 40 years including 10-year grace period.
(Source: JICA)
Iran Has Taken Invaluable Steps to Cement Ties with Iraq: Envoy
Iran’s Ambassador to Iraq Iraj Masjedi highlighted the importance of bilateral relations between the two neighboring countries and said Tehran has taken major strides to strengthen ties with Baghdad.
“We are trying to boost our relations with Iraq in all areas,” Masjedi said, addressing an appreciation ceremony for the outgoing Iranian consuls in the Iraqi cities of Sulaymaniyah and Karbala.
“The embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Baghdad, as well as the affiliated organizations and consulates and other governmental agencies of Iran in Iraq, have taken invaluable strides and actions at various political, economic and security levels to strengthen relations between the two countries in recent years,” the diplomat noted.
Masjedi further pointed to historical, cultural and ideological commonalities of the two countries and said closer ties in all fields are in line with the interests of both Iran and Iraq.
Iran and Iraq enjoy cordial political, security and cultural ties but due to some internal and regional problems including Daesh (also known as ISIS or ISIL) terrorism in Iraq, they have not been able to increase their trade volume.
Heading a high-ranking delegation, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif recently paid an official visit to Iraq to boost ties with the Arab country in the sanctions era.
US President Donald Trump’s administration announced plans in March to extend a 90-day waiver for the second time to let Iraq continue energy imports from Iran.
(Source: Tasnim, under Creative Commons licence)
US-based Capstone Turbine Corporation (Nasdaq: CPST) has announced today that it has secured an order for two C600 Signature Series microturbines to provide 1.2 megawatts (MW) of energy to power a triethylene glycol (TEG) dehydration facility in the Basra region of Southern Iraq.
The order also includes Capstone’s new self-cleaning pulse filtration system which will allow the microturbines to endure the remote and sandy conditions with minimal maintenance. The order was secured by Technical Solutions to Industry FZE (TSI), Capstone’s authorized distributor to Iraq and United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Fueled by available raw gas, Capstone’s two C600S microturbines will power 100% of the new dehydration facility. The new facility is part of a larger 25-year joint venture between local gas and leading oil producer’s efforts to capture, treat and monetize associated gas currently being flared from three southern Iraq oilfields.
Capstone recently developed a new line of self-cleanable severe environment air filtration systems for its Signature Series line of microturbine products to facilitate its expansion into the oil and gas business in the Middle East as part of its overall double digit revenue growth strategy.
The company announced its intentions to expand its business into the Middle East a couple of years ago and has previously delivered successful projects in Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Capstone expects that higher oil prices and the move towards reduced gas flaring will continue to drive demand and should provide a positive backdrop for Capstone’s low emission microturbine solutions.
Darren Jamison, President and Chief Executive Officer of Capstone, said:
“Flaring is the traditional way to dispose of unwanted gas produced during oil exploration activities, but the long standing practice creates an immense amount of carbon dioxide emissions and adds to climate change.
“In Iraq alone, 16 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas is flared annually, making it a wasted resource that could instead provide electricity or other benefits to meet the predicted doubling demand by 2030.”
Iraq is one of the world’s biggest energy producers and is set to become the fourth-largest oil-producer by 2030 behind the United States, Saudi Arabia and Russia according to the IEA report, Iraq’s Energy Sector: A Roadmap to a Brighter Future 2019.
At the same time, 60-70% of gas produced is being flared due to the lack on infrastructure causing Iraq to import natural gas from the neighboring country of Iran. To improve efficiency and help with shortfalls due to rising electricity demand, the Iraqi government is working with international gas companies to capture and utilize its resources versus flaring.
Jim Crouse, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Capstone, said:
“As pressure for more efficient and environmentally conscious oil and gas production increases, we continue to see an increased demand for microturbines for flare reduction applications.
“Capstone, through its distributor network, is committed to do its part by educating and working with producers and local operators for a more profitable production. Flare reduction applications like this in Basra can have a payback as short as one year which makes it an economic win as well as an environmental win.”
(Source: Capstone)
By Adnan Abu Zeed for Al Monitor. Any opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News.
After decades, Iran, Iraq ready to Dredge the Shatt al-Arab
Hope of restoring a clean water lifeline to Basra province is on the rise again with plans by the Iraqi and Iranian governments to revive the Shatt al-Arab as a source of drinking water and improve its functioning as a trade route.