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So much for America getting all the oil it spent billions of dollars, and thousands of lives to "liberate." ----- By SINAN SALAHEDDIN (AP) – 10 hours ago BAGHDAD — A consortium led by Russia's private oil giant won the biggest prize of Iraq's second oil auction this year, nabbing a field initially promised them a decade ago by Saddam Hussein while other companies Saturday showed little interest in offerings outside the secure southern part of the country. Lukoil and Norway's Statoil ASA won rights to develop the 12.88 billion barrel West Qurna Phase 2 field in the Basra region,...

BAGHDAD, Aug 1 - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Saturday his government could not afford to pay General Electric for its services and rebuked parliament for failing to allow a $3 billion bond sale. In May, Iraq's cabinet approved the sale of the treasury bonds, of which $2.4 billion was meant to pay to revamp Iraq's dilapidated electricity sector. A lack of power is a major complaint among Iraqis, especially in the searing summer heat. Iraq's electricity minister had said he hoped parliament would ratify the cabinet's decision in early June, but lawmakers stopped work for the summer...

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE BASRA, Iraq, July 15, 2009 – The view from a Humvee window in rural Iraq is a confusing sight. Small, broken structures disrupt long stretches of sand. Closer to town, abandoned vehicles corrode on the side of the road, trash collects in puddles and ditches, and people herd animals mere yards away from shops on the street. Army Capt. Jennifer Glossinger, Women’s Initiatives program coordinator for Multinational Division South, learns more about the specific talents of Iraqi women at a conference in Zabir, Iraq, July 7, 2009. Glossinger hopes to find women who are willing to teach...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE WARRIOR, Iraq, July 14, 2009 – As security improves in Kirkuk, the business community has the opportunity to grow. But some small businesses still need a helping hand. Army 1st Lt. Daniel Braud takes a photo of Salar Ghazi Fauzi showcasing the new impact socket wrench he purchased for his automotive repair shop using a U.S.-issued microgrant in Daquq, Iraq, July 7, 2009. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jason Douglas  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. U.S. forces issue microgrants of up to $5,000 to help Iraqi small-business owners build or revitalize their businesses, and they...

Iraqi Member of Parliament Safiya Talib al-Suhail was keynote speaker at an Iraqi women's business seminar June 20 in Baghdad. Al-Suhail has a long history of promoting the rights and status of Iraqi women. USACE Photo by Rick Haverinen. BAGHDAD — Sustainment contracting was the focus of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Gulf Region Division (GRD)-sponsored women's business seminar here, June 20, as 35 Iraqi businesswomen attended this half-day event, part of a continuing series of meetings for the Women's Advocate Initiative. "Our goal is to encourage and support Iraqi businesswomen to be more involved in the execution and...

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE ADDER, Iraq, June 15, 2009 – Just a short bus trip from work and in a well-secured area here, soldiers of 1st Armored Division’s 4th Brigade Combat Team can be seen on any given day shopping in the Iraqi-based industrial zone. Army Spc. Jerrod Quinn and Army Spc. Jill Grey browse an electronics counter at the Oasis market on Contingency Operating Base Adder, Iraq, June 10, 2009. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Mark Miranda  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Industrial zone locations are designated secure areas on coalition bases where a commercial business with a...

Sgt. James Witt is greeted by Iraqi merchant Saheb Abaes at the Oasis Market located on Contingency Operating Base Adder, recently. Photo by Sgt. Mark Miranda, 1st Armored Division. COB ADDER — Just a short bus trip from work and in a well-secured area here, U.S. Soldiers can be seen on any given day shopping and visiting the various vending booths in the Iraqi-based industrial zone (I-BIZ).I-BIZ locations are designated as secure areas on Coalition bases where a commercial business with a land use agreement through the Coalition can establish operations. The Coalition is actively supporting this program."We are here...

As a small step that could be considered a healthy vote of confidence in Iraq's return to stability, Mercedes has established a corporate representative office in Baghdad. Daimler set up shop in Erbil, Iraq last February, opening a training center that would get mechanics ready for coming Mercedes products. By installing a corporate representative, the company will have someone on the ground to figure out how best to introduce new Mercedes products to the country. The rep will focus on examining and developing the market for trucks and buses, which Daimler should have all to itself for a while.

Economic development in Iraq in 2008 has been "encouraging" according to a review of the country's economy by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Improved security and a more stable political environment mean economic activity has "picked up" on the back of increased oil production and exports. IMF deputy managing director Takatoshi Kato said the authorities had kept the economic programme "on track". Oil revenue in 2009 would be much lower than in 2008, he added. To compensate, the Iraqi government has already prepared measures to reduce spending next year.

Now it's stock and awe in Baghdad! As the Dow plummeted nearly 700 points yesterday to fall well below the 9,000 mark, the Iraqi stock exchange - where this broker was merrily keeping up with her booming business - was flourishing, buoyed by four-year lows in violence and hopes of a reconstruction windfall. Last month, Iraq's general index went up nearly 40 percent, about the same percentage the Dow dropped over the past year. The jovial trading-floor mood is reminiscent of Wall Street's bygone "greed is good" era of the 1980s. Wall Street Routing World Markets The Middle Eastern "masters...

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iraq has signed preliminary deals worth billions of dollars with General Electric Co and Siemens for equipment to almost double electricity generation capacity, an energy official said on Saturday. The deals with GE, Siemens and a third company would be worth a total of $7 billion to $8 billion, Iraq's Electricity Minister Karim Waheed told Reuters. Years of war, sanctions and neglect have battered Iraq's power grid and the country suffers chronic power shortages. The capital Baghdad receives only a few hours of electricity a day. The deals would mark a big step in the country's reconstruction,...

China has secured Baghdad's first post-Saddam Hussein oil deal by reviving a 1997 concession to exploit reserves on the al-Ahdab field south of the capital. The two countries are expected to formally sign an agreement later this month that will earn the state-controlled China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) a fixed price for every barrel it produces in Iraq. While China opposed the Iraq war and stood back from post-war rebuilding, Beijing has quietly outflanked its global rivals to grab a large slice of Iraq's oil industry. The pioneers of its overseas quest for fuel are already exploring vast tracts in...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE RUSTAMIYAH, Iraq, Sept. 4, 2008 – In another indication of a return to normalcy in eastern Baghdad, more than 90 organizations gathered Aug. 29 and 30 at the Palestine Hotel in the Iraqi capital’s Rusafa district for the 9 Nissan District Business Trade Show. An Iraqi businessman shows Turkish artificial grass, which is one of his company’s products, during the 9 Nissan District Business Trade Show at the Palestine Hotel in Karadah, Iraq, Aug. 30, 2008. More than 90 organizations, including more than 80 businesses, gathered for the event Aug. 29 and 30. U.S. Army photo...

Iraq and China have agreed on the terms of a $3 billion oil service contract, the Iraqi oil minister said Wednesday, announcing his country's first major oil contract with a foreign company since the fall of Saddam Hussein. The oil minister, Hussain al- Shahristani, warned that time was running out for big Western oil companies, which have pressed for years for Iraqi contracts, to seal even short-term deals that had been expected to mark their return to Iraq, which has the world's third-largest oil reserves after Saudi Arabia and Iran. Iraq and the Chinese state-run oil company, CNPC, have agreed...

Link only - Pack your bags for Baghdad? Iraq looks to tourism

The normalization of Iraq, which would generate 250 billion dollars in oil revenues, would boost Turkey's trade volume with this country to 30 billion dollars, Turkey's Trade Minister Kursad Tuzmen said on Sunday. The establishment of stability in Iraq would earn Turkey a neighbor with the ability to generate $250 billion in oil revenues, Tuzmen told the Anatolian Agency. Tuzmen said exports and the construction services Turkey provided to Iraq would be boosted and the transportation sector would also benefit as the revenue of the country increased. "Had Iraq normalized the business volume between Turkey and Iraq would rise to...

Naseb Saad Hasan Altememy, holds up a can of future profits for his company’s recycling center site at a refuse collection site at Joint Base Balad, Iraq. The recycling center, which will provide jobs to local Iraqis, will assist current efforts to sort through daily garbage collection on post for recyclables. Photo by Sgt. Robert G. Cooper III. BALAD — A war can be messy, literally. From the daily trash collections conducted by roving garbage trucks to amassing scrap metals born from the aftermath of battle, waste management is a serious business for Coalition forces in Iraq.And that business is...

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - German Economy Minister Michael Glos held talks with Iraqi officials in Baghdad on Saturday, becoming the first German cabinet minister to visit since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. Germany opposed the invasion but his visit is the latest sign many foreign capitals are ready to upgrade ties with Iraq, where violence has fallen to a four-year low. "The German minister confirmed his country's keenness to improve political and economic ties with Iraq and that German companies are absolutely ready to rebuild Iraq," a statement from Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih's office said. The statement urged German and...

BASRA, Iraq, June 20, 2008 – The provincial reconstruction team for Iraq’s Basra province, along with the Gulf Region South district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and the United Nations Development Program concluded a two-day budget execution support workshop June 18 at the international airport here. The event provided a clear understanding of how the international community can support the provincial governor’s office and technical directorates for the design and implementation of projects for the rest of the year, said Army Maj. Daniel George, a PRT engineer assigned from Gulf Region South’s...

(Newser) – European and Asian investors are taking advantage of the recently stabilized Iraqi business climate, USA Today reports. US firms still regard Iraq as too dangerous to invest in, but that attitude may cost them the best opportunities. The firms “who are getting in on the ground floor are not American," says a Pentagon official. "It's ironic." Iraq has attracted $500 million in foreign investment just this year. Many of the countries with the largest business presence—such as France, Russia and Turkey—did not take part in the initial invasion. Americans' cold feet perplex some. Says a Washington-based Iraqi official:...