Category Archives: Oil

Ashty Hawramy to face court

By Aland Mahwy: Hama-Jaza Hama-Salah, deputy natural resources minister of the Kurdistan region, is to file a law suit against Ashty Hawramy for insulting him, following his resignation as deputy minister. Ashty Hawramy, the KRG’s natural resources minister, accused his deputy on 8 June of using his position to put pressure on an oil company…

$20M good news for AUIS – but how to improve education for all?

KT News and Comment: The Anglo-Turkish oil giant Genel Energy has donated $20 million to The American University of Iraq – Slemani (AUIS).  Dr. Athanasios Moulakis, president of the AUIS, has expressed his gratitude: “We thank the Genel Energy for their generous donation. We also thank the (KRG) Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister and both…

Kurdistan recruitment consultant advises: Modern life is not easy!

Sayran Hadi

By Sayran Hadi: I am a link between job seekers and employers in the Kurdistan Region. I receive hundreds of CVs every day and so many people want to change their job. They mostly want to join the oil sector… Life is not easy nowadays, especially in a country like Kurdistan – where business is…

Is it a trap? Playing political football with fuel subsidies in the Kurdistan Region

Shwan Zulal

By Shwan Zulal: First published on Niqash High fuel prices and long gas station queues in Iraqi Kurdistan have led to calls for a government subsidy on fuel. But one industry analyst thinks that’s a terrible idea:  And it seems as though not a day goes by when oil in the semi-autonomous state of Iraqi…

Erdoğan to brief Obama on Exxon’s latest play!

Shwan Zulal

By Shwan Zulal: At the airport moment before boarding the plane bound to the US, the Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, announced that Turkey has agreed a deal with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and Exxonmobil for oil and gas exploration in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. The PM only made a brief statement…

Kurdish law makers should tax individual higher earners

By Mufid Abdulla: This article flows from the recent local news that there are 30,000 dollar millionaires in the south of Kurdistan. First of all we must ask ourselves what Kurdistan produces to create such a high-calibre rich class, or what innovations has the region seen in the past decade to justify this? In the…

First oil from south of Kurdistan sold on international market

Kurdish oil

KT News: The first cargo of crude oil from an oil field in the south of Kurdistan has been sold on the international market. This has happened in defiance of the Iraq central government and against the background of its ongoing dispute with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). Reuters quotes sources as saying that a…

Baghdad budget is for ordinary people and oil dispute is for the rich, says Gorran MP

KT News and Comment: A prominent Gorran MP in the Iraqi parliament has accused other Kurdish MPs of wrongly opposing Iraq’s budget because of the ongoing oil dispute. Latif Mustafa told Awene that, while the Iraq budget ‘belongs’ to ordinary people, the oil dispute between Baghdad and Erbil mainly concerns the corrupt politicians, oil contractors…

KRG will build oil pipeline to Turkey – Hawrami

KT News: Ashti Hawrami, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) minister for natural resources, told a press conference in Erbil today that, in defiance of the Iraq central government, the KRG will press ahead with building its own oil export pipeline to Turkey. “We want to have an oil pipeline to ourselves,” announced Hawrami. “It is…

KRG halts oil exports

Oil

 KT News:  The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has once again halted the export of oil through the pipelines to Turkey. This is due to the ongoing dispute between Baghdad and Erbil. Baghdad was supposed to make a second round of payments of liabilities to foreign oil companies by the middle of this month. However, it…

Survival Strategies and Diplomatic Tools: The Kurdistan Region’s Foreign Policy Outlook

Shwan Zulal

By Shwan Zulal: In some basic outline, this paper gives the readers an idea where Kurdistan Region foreign policy is at and where it is heading. It also points out the values and mechanisms the KRG are using and have used to enhance their influence in the region, exploring the issues behind the headlines. I…

Baghdad warns ExxonMobil while a deal with Erbil is gathering momentum

Shwan Zulal

By Shwan Zulal: It has been almost a year since super-major oil company ExxonMobil ventured into Iraq’s Kurdistan Region. Despite Baghdad’s harsh words against the company, it has suffered little punishment other than exclusion from the 4th bid round, in which it showed little interest anyway. Bookmark on Delicious Recommend on Facebook Share on Linkedin…

Gorran MP involved in oil controversy resigns for ‘health reasons’

Ismaeel Galali

KT News and Comment: Gorran MP Ismaeel Galali has resigned his seat in the Kurdistan parliament. In a resignation letter yesterday Galali cited health issues as the main reason for his decision. He also said that he does not want to spoil his legacy, having sacrificed a lot for the Kurdish nation. His resignation follows the…

Baghdad ‘to pay Kurdistan Region $900 million’ in oil dispute deal

kurd oil

KT News: Following the visit by a Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) delegation to Baghdad – headed by KRG natural resources minister Ashti Hawrami and under the supervision of Iraqi deputy prime minister Roz Nuri Shaways – Baghdad and Hawler have reached a preliminary agreement, due to be ratified by their respective cabinets, on the main points…

Iraq parliament sets up oil and energy committee to resolve dispute with Kurdistan Region

Kurdish oil

News from KT: The Iraqi parliament has set up a committee to try and resolve the protracted oil and energy disputes between the central government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). The committee has 12 members from different political groups represented in the parliament. It has been tasked with drafting new legislation in respect of oil…