Iraq Economic News and Points To Ponder Wednesday Evening 8-12-26
Saladin Gas Field Targets 300M Cubic Feet Daily
2026-08-11 Shafaq News- Baghdad Iraq plans to raise gas production from the Ajeel field in Saladin province to around 300 million standard cubic feet per day, the Oil Ministry stated on Tuesday.
Deputy Oil Minister for Gas Affairs Izzat Saber Ismail said the projected output would strengthen the national gas system and could also support production of liquefied petroleum gas and condensates.
The ministry is assessing whether existing North Gas Company facilities can process the additional volumes or whether new infrastructure will be required at Ajeel, taking into account rehabilitation and development work under Iraq’s contract with BP.
Te field’s development should pair higher crude output with greater use of associated gas to reduce flaring and improve utilization of Iraq’s hydrocarbon resources, according to Deputy Oil Minister for Extraction Affairs Naseer Aziz.
Ajeel is one of Saladin province’s active oil and gas fields. North Gas Company was producing about 410 million standard cubic feet per day of associated gas in 2025, while Kirkuk gas output currently stands at about 255 million standard cubic feet per day, with BP-linked development targeting 400 million.
Read more: Four Iraqi Kirkuk fields target 450K bpd under BP
https://www.shafaq.com/en/Economy/Saladin-gas-field-targets-300M-cubic-feet-daily
Heavy Fees Drive Iraqi Delivery Firms Toward Collapse
2026-08-11 Shafaq News- Baghdad Iraq's delivery companies are warning that rising licensing costs, new fees and overlapping government regulations are putting increasing pressure on a sector that has become a key link between small businesses and their customers.
More than 25 delivery companies are closing each day because of the cost of renewing licenses and rising charges, Rami Ali, manager of Al-Sultan Road Delivery Company, stated on Tuesday.
Speaking at a forum in Baghdad that brought together representatives of delivery companies, lawmakers and government officials to discuss the challenges facing the sector, Ali noted that renewing licenses costs companies 8 million Iraqi dinars ($6,100) a year for services that are not actually provided.
“Half of the delivery fee goes to the courier and the other half to the company,” he added, cautioning that the financial pressure is particularly heavy for companies operating on relatively narrow margins, with profits accounting for no more than 13% of delivery fees.
The financial strain comes alongside a dispute over which government body should regulate delivery companies, with the Transport Ministry and Communications Ministry both involved in the sector.
Read more: Iraq's e-commerce boom fuels growth, fraud, and consumer mistrust
Legal expert Ayoub Rashid argued that the laws underpinning the regulatory framework are inconsistent with those currently in force, leaving the two ministries with overlapping authority.
“Transport falls under the jurisdiction of the relevant ministry, and no other ministry is authorized to regulate it,” he maintained, contending that the Communications Ministry cannot impose fees on delivery companies without a clear legal basis.
The dispute extends beyond the companies themselves, with potential implications for the growing number of small businesses and households that rely on delivery services to reach customers.
Economic expert Khaled al-Jabri described delivery companies as a key link in Iraq's e-commerce sector, particularly for people who produce goods from their homes and depend on delivery services to sell them.
“Delivery companies provide the link between producers and consumers, particularly for businesses that can be operated from home and do not require extensive administrative or legal procedures,” Jabri told Shafaq News.
Many of these small activities generate revenues below the threshold for tax exemptions and have limited dealings with company registration offices or other government departments, he added, stressing that disruptions to the sector could therefore affect the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of families, particularly as Iraq faces significant financial pressures.
Read more: 2026 budget: Iraq confronts unprecedented fiscal strain
https://www.shafaq.com/en/Economy/Heavy-fees-drive-Iraqi-delivery-firms-toward-collapse
Oil, Gold Rise As Geopolitical Risks Persist
2026-08-12 Shafaq News Oil and gold prices climbed while regional shares edged nervously higher on Wednesday as geopolitical tensions ratcheted up ahead of key U.S. inflation data.
The yen was mostly flat against the dollar, having unwound much of its gains following rare intervention in currency markets by Japan and the United States.
The U.S. and Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis reported separate attacks on shipping, while Asia was rattled by an early morning missile launch by North Korea.
Markets remained focused on U.S. consumer price index data later in the session for signals of timing for a potential Federal Reserve rate hike.
"Market sentiment is lukewarm amidst lingering geopolitical risk and as market participants head into U.S. CPI data," Kyle Rodda, a senior financial market analyst at Capital.com, wrote in a note.
"The lack of substantial news or progress in talks, with Iran doubling down on its commitment to govern the Strait of Hormuz, is keeping the risk for oil prices skewed to the upside and U.S. indices on hold," he added.
U.S. crude rose 0.89% to $83.94 a barrel, and Brent advanced to $89.60 per barrel, up 0.78% on the day. Both benchmarks settled more than $1 higher on Tuesday, marking their highest closes since July 31 and extending gains after jumping about 5% on Monday.
Spot gold gained 0.46% to $4,387.03 an ounce. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS), opens new tab was up 0.5%, while Japan's benchmark Nikkei share gauge (.N225), opens new tab traded flat as the market reopened after a holiday.
Four crew members of an Egyptian-owned ship were killed in an attack by Houthis on Tuesday, Yemen's transport ministry said, while the U.S. military said it struck a container ship attempting to sail toward an Iranian port. The fatalities would mark the first from a Houthi strike on shipping since the Iran war began on February 28.
The war shows no signs of ending despite repeated claims from U.S. President Donald Trump of an imminent deal.
A North Korean ballistic missile fired off the Korean Peninsula's east coast came days ahead of major joint military exercises by Seoul and Washington long denounced by Pyongyang. Meanwhile, Taiwan condemned planned naval drills between China and an Indonesian warship off the island's east coast.
Wednesday's CPI data will not capture the most recent rise in energy costs, but it could still prove instrumental in setting expectations for the Fed's meeting next month, with money markets showing an even chance of a hike .
Consumer prices are expected to edge up 0.1% in July after falling 0.4% in June, according to a Reuters poll. Annual CPI inflation is forecast to slow to 3.4% from 3.5% a month earlier.
"Everyone's got their eyes on the CPI report," Skye Masters, head of markets research at National Australia Bank, said on a podcast. "If you do see the print coming in at zero, I think you'll obviously see a reasonable rally in Treasuries as the market unwinds expectations for the Fed tightening."
Markets are also increasingly pricing in an early rate hike in Japan, putting pressure on the nation's shorter-dated bonds. The yield on the 5-year Japanese government bonds rose to 2.1%, a record high, while the 2-year yield reached a 31-year peak of 1.63%.
The dollar index , which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, rose 0.04% to 99.85. The euro was down 0.02% at $1.1538.
The Japanese yen weakened 0.03% against the greenback to 159.31 per dollar, remaining off last week's high of 155.20 after several suspected rounds of intervention. Sterling weakened 0.01% to $1.3501.
In early European trades, the pan-region Euro Stoxx 50 futures were down 0.15% at 6,563, German DAX futures fell 0.12% at 26,444, and FTSE futures lost 0.25% to stand at 10,825.
U.S. stock futures, the S&P 500 e-minis , were up 0.03% at 7,750.
https://www.shafaq.com/en/Economy/Oil-gold-rise-as-geopolitical-risks-persist
BP Weighs New Oil Exploration Across Southwest Kirkuk
2026-08-12 Shafaq News- Kirkuk British energy giant BP could extend oil and gas exploration into new areas of Kirkuk, including the Hawija district and the al-Riyadh and al-Rashad sub-districts, a member of the Iraqi parliament's Oil and Gas Committee, Mohammed Ali al-Nuaimi, told Shafaq News on Wednesday.
He set out those areas as promising untapped ground during talks with the General Manager of BP in Iraq, Zaid al-Yasiri. The two sides examined technical and investment plans to develop Kirkuk's oil and gas fields, raise production efficiency, and upgrade refineries.
BP maintains a long-standing partnership with Iraq's energy sector and operates under an agreement with the Iraqi government to develop and rehabilitate several Kirkuk fields, including the Kirkuk, Bai Hassan, Jambur, and Khabbaz fields, along with gas and power projects.
Iraq activated that contract in October 2025, with initial output set at about 328,000 barrels per day, according to Iraq's Oil Ministry.
According to Oil Ministry spokesman Salim al-Rikabi, BP's work will include rehabilitating and developing Kirkuk oilfields, expanding Northern Gas Company facilities, constructing a 400-megawatt power station, absorbing local labor, implementing social welfare projects, and developing the technical capacity of the North Oil and Northern Gas companies.
The projects will also eliminate continuous gas flaring by utilizing produced gas as fuel for power stations, contributing to both economic and environmental benefits.
https://www.shafaq.com/en/Economy/BP-weighs-new-oil-exploration-across-southwest-Kirkuk
Totalenergies, CPP To Build Basra Gas Pipelines For Iraq
2026-08-12 Shafaq News- Basra Iraq will start laying the pipeline network for a major gas-capture project in the Basra oilfields this month, the state-owned Company for Oil Projects (SCOP) said Wednesday, adding that it had completed technical and operational preparations to begin work at the Artawi field on a scheme designed to cut the gas routinely flared, or burned off, at southern oilfields.
The director of the company's South Projects Authority, Abdul Hakim Qadouri, said a joint meeting with TotalEnergies of France and China Petroleum Pipeline (CPP) of China, attended by representatives of Basra Gas Company, settled the final requirements for launching the work, including pipeline routes and supporting facilities.
The project involves laying pipelines of 10, 12, and 24 inches to carry sweet gas, which is low in sulfur, and building launching and receiving stations. It also includes a 20-inch line for sour gas, which is higher in sulfur and more corrosive, within the WQ2 block of the West Qurna 2 oilfield.
According to Qaddouri, behind the engineering is a persistent Iraqi problem: the country flares much of the gas produced alongside its crude for lack of infrastructure to capture it, then imports gas and fuel to run its power stations.
The project falls under Oil Ministry efforts to make use of this associated gas and process the volumes coming off producing fields, reducing flaring and drawing more value from the resource.
The Artawi Gas Midstream Project (GMP) forms part of TotalEnergies' Gas Growth Integrated Project, a multi-billion-dollar program in Basra that also covers oilfield redevelopment, a seawater supply plant, and solar power, according to the French company.
The Company for Oil Projects said the pipeline work is scheduled to begin this August.
Read more: TotalEnergies pushes alternative Iraqi pipelines to west
https://www.shafaq.com/en/Economy/TotalEnergies-CPP-to-build-Basra-gas-pipelines-for-Iraq