Posted on

S Korea supports UNHCR Humanitarian Activities

Republic of Korea supports UNHCR’s humanitarian activities in Iraq

The Government of the Republic of Korea continues its support to UNHCR’s humanitarian activities in Iraq with a new donation of US$ 1.2 million.

Despite promising signs of recovery in parts of the country, millions of Iraqis still need comprehensive humanitarian and protection assistance. Some 1.9 million people are displaced; hundreds of thousands are in camps. Many will not be able to return home any time soon.

Rebuilding Iraq is no small task. As the country gets back on its feet, it is vital that the people who need emergency assistance continue to receive it for as long as they need it.

Communities affected by the recent conflict are beset by hardships. Thousands of vulnerable people arrive in UNHCR-managed camps every month because they cannot find work or pay rent in their home areas, because progress in clearing explosive hazards is slow, or because services like water and electricity are not functioning.

In July alone, 1,700 families – over 10,000 people – arrived in camps across Iraq. The majority of the new arrivals were displaced at least once before. With each displacement, people become more vulnerable.

H.E. the Korean Ambassador to Iraq, Mr. Song Woong-Yeob (pictured), said,

“The Republic of Korea is deeply committed to supporting humanitarian activities in Iraq and will continue to stand by Iraqi people who are in need of humanitarian assistance. I firmly believe that Korea’s continuing support for the activities through the Iraqi Government and international organizations like UNHCR will further help the endangered Iraqi people to recover and rebuild their communities by imbuing them with hope for a new future.”

Mr. Bruno Geddo, UNHCR’s Representative in Iraq.

““There is no quick fix for Iraq. For people to see tangible improvements in their lives we must continue to respond to the situation, and stand beside the Iraqi people until they can return home safely. Sustainable return is a cornerstone of long-term peace and stability, and thanks to donors like the Republic of Korea, UNHCR is able to backstop Iraq’s journey to recovery. We will support the country’s most vulnerable people for as long as they need us.”

(Source: UN)

Posted on

IOCs discuss Basra’s Oil and Gas Megaprojects

BP, Shell, Basra Gas Company, LUKOIL, Petronas and Chevron discuss Basra’s oil and gas megaprojects

The 5th annual CWC Basra Megaprojects Conference – Oil, Gas & Environment will be held from 9-10 October in Istanbul, Turkey chaired by the EU Ambassador to Baghdad, Ramon Blecau.

In a show of support for the rebuilding of Iraq, Ambassador Blecau and industry experts will highlight the business opportunities available in the resource-rich South of Iraq with the aim of driving more investment to develop the country’s industrial infrastructure.

The conference takes place under the patronage of Basra’s Governorate, Council and oil company and looks to find solutions to the challenges of Basra’s oil and gas megaprojects and increasing Iraq’s oil and gas production, as well as highlighting the upcoming infrastructure projects for: gas, water, electricity and environment. All the major operators will be participating in discussions including: BP, Shell, Basra Gas Company, LUKOIL, Petronas and Chevron.

Further to these discussions, there will be a strong focus on Iraq’s environment and how to build a legislative framework to tackle Basra’s environmental issues; tackling all types of challenges including the demining projects.

New technology will play a significant role in achieving operational excellence in the execution of Iraq’s projects; whilst Iraq’s new generation of workforce are eager to embrace the technologies, the conference will touch upon the training programmes that are imperative for helping Iraqis compete for job opportunities and increase the role of the Iraqi local workforce in the execution of the latest projects.

Water and desalination projects will be the centre of discussion on the second day of the conference as well as the electricity requirements for such projects and ideas for renewable projects in Iraq.

Gas and petrochemical projects will also be covered by industry experts, which will be instrumental in creating new jobs for Iraqis but raise further questions on how the environment can be preserved during these processes. During the conclusion of the Conference, all the available tenders for the new projects will be outlined.

The interactive networking sessions will be at the centre of the conference with great number of functions including the Gala Dinner at the end of the first day of the Conference. The achievements of individuals in environmental technology projects will also be celebrated at the Environmental Awards Ceremony, which will take place during the Gala Dinner with awards being given out by the Iraqi delegation.

We look forward to seeing everyone at the Intercontinental Istanbul from 9-10 of October. To download the latest programme, please visit www.cwcbasraoilgas.com/brochure-download/.

Distinguished Speakers to include:

  • Ambassador Ramon Blecua, Ambassador / Head of Delegation, Delegation of the European Union to Iraq
    • HE Kameran Ali Hassan    , Deputy Minister of Environment, Ministry of Environment, Federal Government of Iraq
    •       HE Asaad Abdulamir Abdulghafar Al – Idan    , Governor of Basra, Federal Government of Iraq
    •       HE Engineer Mohammed Al Tamimi    , First Deputy Governor of Basra, Governorate of Basra, Federal Government of Iraq
    •       Ihsan Abduljabbar Ismaael Al – Saade    , Director General of the Basra Oil Company, Ministry of Oil, Federal Government of Iraq
    •       HE Dara Reshid    , Deputy Minister, Deputy Head of Reconstruction Fund for Areas Affected by Terroristic Operations (REFAATO), Ministry of Construction, Housing & General Municipalities, Federal Government of Iraq
    •       HE Ali Dawai Lazem    , Governor of Maysan, Federal Government of Iraq
    •       Nafaa Abdulsada Ali Al-Hmidawi    , Director General of Training & Development Office, Ministry of Electricity, Federal Government of Iraq
    •       Mohammed Hashim    , Director General of Electricity Distribution, Ministry of Electricity, Federal Government of Iraq
  • MP Dr Jamal Abdul-Zahra Muhammadawi, Member of the Parliament Representing Basra, Federal Parliament of Iraq •                   Kevin J. Kveton, Ph.D.Director, Iraq Exploration & Business Development, Chevron  Europe, Eurasia & Middle East Exploration & Production
    •       Zaid Elyaseri    , Country Manager, BP Iraq
    •       Dr Mark Wharton    , Development & JV Manager Shell Iraq, Shell EP International Ltd.
    •       Abd Malik Jaffar    , Iraq Country Chairman, PETRONAS Carigali Iraq Holding B.V.
    •       Yaroslav Okulov    ,  Financial Director, LUKOIL Mid-East Ltd
    •       Dr Jaafar Oklany    , Commercial Director, Basrah Gas Company

View the full list of speakers here: http://www.cwcbasraoilgas.com/speaker/

The renowned Conference will address opportunities, projects and tenders in each one of these industries through its 2 day Strategic Programme. Attendees can expect the following topics to be discussed:

  • Current updates on Basra’s oil fields
  • Iraq’s Environment
  • Infrastructure for Upstream Oil & Gas Projects ( Technology Showcasing- upstream activities suppliers, pipelines suppliers, demining technologies, logistics suppliers, security suppliers ) & Training on the New Skillsets
  • Finance, Laws & Regulations & Procurement
  • Water Projects: Increasing Efficiency for the Oil & Gas Projects
  • Electricity Expansion & Renewables for the Oil & Gas Projects
  • Gas & Petrochemicals
  • Energy Tenders Announcements; Downstream, Midstream, Petrochemicals & Electricity projects

View the full programme here: www.cwcbasraoilgas.com/brochure-download/

(Source: CWC)

Posted on

$5m to support Vaccination of 5 million Children

Iraq Humanitarian Fund allocates US$5M to support nation-wide campaign to vaccinate 5M children at risk

With pockets of measles outbreaks affecting both internally displaced people (IDPs) and host communities, and considering the current epidemiological situation, the Iraq Federal Ministry of Health has declared an outbreak of measles and requested support from UNICEF and WHO for  an emergency measles vaccination campaign across the country.

To support the nation-wide campaign, the Iraq Humanitarian Fund (IHF) has launched a Reserve Allocation to channel up to $5 million to vaccinate 5 million children of 9-59 months. Risk management activities – including field project monitoring, financial spot checks and audits – will continue to be conducted to ensure the Fund’s effective and accountable management.

Since its inception in 2015, the Fund has disbursed some $221 million to support 388 humanitarian projects of 93 partner organizations. Established in June 2015, the IHF has quickly become one of the largest country-based pooled funds in the world. The Fund supports humanitarian partners to respond to the complex and dynamic crisis in Iraq, including through direct and indirect funding to national frontline responders.

Prioritizing protection, water, sanitation and health in 2018

Despite government-imposed bureaucratic impediments and persistent access constraints affecting parts of the country, humanitarian partners have expanded  their operational presence including in some newly accessible areas. Together, 105  humanitarian partners  reached 1.3 million (38 per cent) of 3.4 million people targeted under the Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) in the first five months of 2018.

The IHF is providing a critical lifeline to such activities. As the fund finalizes its first Standard Allocation for the year, $34 million are going into supporting 82 projects carried out by 53 partners, targeting a total of 3.3 million people with humanitarian assistance, in line with the 2018 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) Strategic Objectives. The top three sectors covered by the allocation are Protection, Water and Sanitation, and Health. The allocation focuses on assistance to vulnerable populations in areas where displaced families are returning, support to principled returns and service provision in the remaining displacement camps.

Funding status

The IHF has received US$18.2 million in donor contributions towards 2018. With a carry forward from 2017 of $45.4 million, which includes $43 million received from the governments of Germany and the United Kingdom in late November and December 2017, the cumulative contributions to date stand at $63.6 million. The Fund’s programmable balance available for future allocations is around $24.6 million.

(Source: OCHA)

Posted on

Eni CEO meets Iraqi Oil Minister

The oil minister of Iraq, Jabbar Ali Hussein Luaibi, and the Chief Executive Officer of Eni, Claudio Descalzi (pictured) met in Baghdad on Saturday.

During the meeting Eni’s CEO had the opportunity to outline the Company’s current activities in the country in light of the recent achievements of the Zubair field development, where the production has grown by over 100% since 2015.

The project, carried out by Eni with Basra Oil Company (BOC), has marked the fast track development of one of the largest producing oil fields in the Southern Iraq region of Basra.

Furthermore Claudio Descalzi updated the Minister Luaibi on a new 380 MW power plant which is in the final stages of construction. The plant will generate power for Zubair field and for domestic consumption in Basra Governorate.

Claudio Descalzi and Minister Jabbar discussed additional increase of Zubair production, future opportunities and development investments that would further strengthen Eni’s relationship with the country. Eni’s CEO has in fact confirmed Eni commitment in Upstream sector in Iraq and its support to the country through several initiatives.

Eni’s CEO and the Minister of Oil discussed among other things on the progress of social projects that are currently underway in the Basra Governorate in the areas of healthcare, education, through the construction among other things of one secondary school in Basra for 900 students and refurbishment of existing ones targeting total of 77 schools within the next 4 years, access to energy, through the expansion of the power plant, clean drinking water, through the overhaul of drinking water treatment plants, and new initiatives in agriculture sector which will allow creation of jobs and the development of local economy.

Finally, Eni’s CEO highlighted potential synergies related to energy projects in Iraq, a strategic lever for the Country in maximizing its use of national natural resources through project integration within the entire energy chain and double country oil production within limited time.

Eni has been present in Iraq since 2009, where it operates through its subsidiary Eni Iraq B.V., and with the ramp up of the Zubair Field Development Project (Eni 41.56%, Kogas 23.75%, BOC 29.69%, Missan 5%) the Company has become one of Iraq’s main operators in the oil sector. Eni currently operates 475,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in Iraq.

(Source: ENI)

Posted on

Production Restarted at Baiji Refinery

By John Lee.

Oil Minister Jabar Ali al-Luaibi [Allibi, Luiebi] announced on Sunday the full rehabilitation of the Salahaddin-2 unit at Baiji oil refinery.

The refinery was shut down in 2014 due to the actions of the Islamic State group (IS, ISIS, ISIL, Daesh).

The Salahaddin-2 unit has a capacity of 70,000 barrels per day (bpd).

(Source: Ministry of Oil)

Posted on

SNC-Lavalin awarded West Qurna 2 Contract

Canadian-based SNC-Lavalin (TSX:SNC) has announce that it has been awarded a framework agreement for project support services with LUKOIL Mid-East for the West Qurna phase 2 oil field in Iraq.

Christian Brown (pictured), President, Oil & Gas, SNC-Lavalin, said:

“We continue to build on our long-term relationship with LUKOIL and to help them realize their projects successfully.”

SNC-Lavalin’s scope will include the provision of engineering, design activities and project support services for the development of the Mishrif and Yamama formations of the West Qurna 2 oil field, as well as training and continued professional development for local Iraqi professionals.

The project will be executed in country at the West Qurna phase 2 oil field, as well as from the UAE.

The West Qurna Phase 2 oil field is located in the southern part of Iraq, 65 kilometers north-west of Basra, a major seaport city, and is one of the world’s largest fields. West Qurna Phase 2 is split into three main phases, two phases for the Mishrif formation and one for the Yamama formation.

The required surface facilities for Yamama and Mishrif include major elements such as well pads, oil gathering flowlines, headers and trunklines, a central processing facility and its associated utilities and offsites, oil/gas/liquid petroleum gas export pipelines, additional storage tanks at an existing facility, power plant, water intake and supply pipelines.

(Source: SNC Lavalin)

Posted on

Pharma Firm pays $25m to Resolve Corrupt Payments

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that Paris-based pharmaceutical company Sanofi has agreed to pay more than $25 million to resolve charges that its Kazakhstan and the Middle East subsidiaries made corrupt payments to win business.

According to the SEC’s order, the schemes spanned multiple countries and involved bribe payments to government procurement officials and healthcare providers in order to be awarded tenders and to increase prescriptions of its products.

In the Middle East, various pay-to-prescribe schemes were used to induce healthcare providers to increase their prescriptions of Sanofi products.

In Iraq, for example, a healthcare professional (HCP) requesting samples of Taxotere in 2012 was also provided with consulting, speaking, and clinical trial fees over a period of years despite the lack of documentation of other support to demonstrate the services had been provided. Sanofi paid to the HCP the equivalent in local currency of USD 28,900 in consulting fees and, USD 5500 in speaking fees.

Sanofi also paid to the HCP USD 125,997 in clinical trial fees. The consulting fees were purportedly related to hosting events and training for HCPs in Iraq. No supporting documentation was found for any of the purported consultancy services. While the clinical trial fees were approved by Medical Affairs, the HCP has never provided reports of findings or observations.

The HCP, who provided the ostensible speaking, consulting, and clinical trial services to Sanofi, requested that the consulting and clinical trial fees be paid by check to an unrelated individual.

Sanofi accommodated the request to pay the unrelated individual without explanation or justification.

“Bribery in connection with pharmaceutical sales remains as a significant problem despite numerous prior enforcement actions involving the industry and life sciences more generally,” said Charles Cain, FCPA Unit Chief, SEC Enforcement Division. “While bribery risk can impact any industry, this matter illustrates that more work needs to be done to address the particular risks posed in the pharmaceutical industry.”

The SEC’s order finds that Sanofi violated the books and records and internal accounting controls provisions of the federal securities laws. Without admitting or denying the findings, Sanofi agreed to a cease-and-desist order and to pay $17.5 million in disgorgement, $2.7 million in prejudgment interest, and a civil penalty of $5 million.

The SEC appreciates the assistance of Fraud Section of the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Autorité des marchés financiers in France.

(Source: SEC)

Posted on

IBBC hosts Members’ Dinner in Baghdad

The Deputy Chairman of the Iraq Britain Business Council (IBBC), Rasmi Al Jabri, and Managing Director, Christophe Michels, hosted a dinner for members and guests at the Babylon Warwick Hotel in Baghdad on 29th August.

Many representatives from member companies were in attendance, including the Chairman of Khudairi Group and the International Islamic Bank, the CEO’s of Kuwait Energy and the National Bank of Iraq, as well as representatives from Al Burhan Group, Al Nukhba-OFS, Constellis, G4S, Standard Chartered Bank, Serco, Shell and XReach Ltd.

Ms Beverly Simpson, Iraq Country Director for the Department for International Trade, gave guests an update on the latest visa and labour regulations being applied in Iraq, followed by a discussion.

(Source: IBBC)

Posted on

Basra Reeling from Contaminated Drinking Water

By Mustafa Saadoun for Al Monitor. Any opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News.

Human rights advocates and health officials estimate that 17,000 to 18,000 residents of Basra province have been poisoned by heavily polluted and salty drinking water. On Aug. 26, hundreds of residents stormed the Basra Health Directorate to protest the poor health services provided to those made ill, but relief is not in sight.

Basra hospitals have been struggling since Aug. 12 to treat patients suffering from intestinal and skin diseases. Some hospitals have been so overwhelmed by the sheer number of patients and lack of medicines that were unable to provide assistance in thousands of cases.

According to statistics from the health directorate, Basra’s water pollution is staggering.

Click here to read the full story.

Posted on

Oil Exports Rise in August

By John Lee.

Iraq’s Ministry of Oil has announced interim oil exports for July of 111,016,618 barrels, giving an average for the month of 3.583 million barrels per day (bpd), an increase from the 3.543 bpd exported in July.

These exports were entirely from the southern terminals, with no exports registered from Kirkuk via Ceyhan.

Revenues for the month were  $7.729 billion at an average price of $69.593 per barrel.

July export figures can be found here.

(Source: Ministry of Oil)