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Iraq Says Looks Forward to Joint Industrial, Commercial Zone with Kuwait

Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al Sabah received his Iraqi counterpart Mustafa Al-Kadhimi in Kuwait on Sunday (AFP)
Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al Sabah received his Iraqi counterpart Mustafa Al-Kadhimi in Kuwait on Sunday (AFP)
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Iraq Says Looks Forward to Joint Industrial, Commercial Zone with Kuwait

Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al Sabah received his Iraqi counterpart Mustafa Al-Kadhimi in Kuwait on Sunday (AFP)
Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al Sabah received his Iraqi counterpart Mustafa Al-Kadhimi in Kuwait on Sunday (AFP)

Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi stated that Iraq was looking forward to establishing a joint industrial and commercial zone with Kuwait to further develop an economic partnership between the two countries.

Kadhimi’s comments came during a meeting with Chairman of the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry Muhammad Jassim Al-Saqer and a large group of businessmen on the sidelines of his visit to Kuwait.

“Iraq is seriously seeking to facilitate the procedures for intra-regional trade with Kuwait, and to raise the volume of trade exchange, which is still below the level of our ambitions,” he stated.

Kadhimi stressed that the Iraqi government has worked to facilitate investment procedures, protect the rights of investors, provide all forms of support for the success of their business, and simplify granting entry visas to Kuwaiti businessmen, noting that Iraq had previously signed an agreement to avoid double taxation with Kuwait in 2019.

“Iraqi-Kuwaiti cooperation in the fields of oil and energy is of great interest to us, and we look forward to developing these relations by encouraging the Kuwaiti side to expedite the implementation of the related Gulf electrical interconnection projects,” he added.

In a separate context, Dr. Mazhar Mohammad Salih, a financial advisor to the Iraqi government, said on Monday that extensive meetings were being held to prepare the draft federal general budget for 2022.

Saleh told the German News Agency that the budget seeks to revive economic growth, reform the financial system, and maximize non-oil revenues, along with oil revenues.

He added that the significant improvement in crude oil prices has resulted in financial revenues that exceeded the USD 45 price ceiling approved by the current year’s budget, and thus the rise in oil prices contributed to filling a large part of the planned budget deficit of 29 trillion Iraqi dinars and stopped resorting to borrowing.

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Türkiye Says Iraq Seeks 750,000 Bpd Capacity on Kirkuk-Ceyhan Oil Pipeline

Türkiye’s Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar talks during a meeting in Ankara, Türkiye, September 14, 2023. (Turkish Energy Ministry Press Office/PPO/Handout via Reuters/File photo)
Türkiye’s Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar talks during a meeting in Ankara, Türkiye, September 14, 2023. (Turkish Energy Ministry Press Office/PPO/Handout via Reuters/File photo)
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Türkiye Says Iraq Seeks 750,000 Bpd Capacity on Kirkuk-Ceyhan Oil Pipeline

Türkiye’s Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar talks during a meeting in Ankara, Türkiye, September 14, 2023. (Turkish Energy Ministry Press Office/PPO/Handout via Reuters/File photo)
Türkiye’s Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar talks during a meeting in Ankara, Türkiye, September 14, 2023. (Turkish Energy Ministry Press Office/PPO/Handout via Reuters/File photo)

Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said Iraq wants to send 750,000 barrels per day of oil through the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline under an arrangement to keep it operating for another year, and that Türkiye has set aside sufficient capacity for it.

The current pipeline agreement between Iraq and Türkiye expires this month. The two countries reached an understanding last week to keep it operating for another year and a deal is expected to be signed in the coming days.

The pipeline has regained importance following Iran's closure of ‌the Strait of ‌Hormuz and the resulting halt in Iraq's seaborne oil exports.

Türkiye ‌informed ⁠Iraq last year ⁠that it did not want simply to renew the existing agreement and preferred to negotiate a more comprehensive arrangement.

Exports through the line were halted in 2023 after an international arbitration tribunal awarded damages against Türkiye. Oil flows resumed only around two and a half years later, toward the end of last year.

According to BOTAS data, the pipeline, which has a total capacity of 1.4 million bpd and transported roughly 480,000 bpd before the shutdown, has carried ⁠only about 190,000 bpd since restarting.

"They told us they would need ‌750,000 barrels of capacity. Although only 180,000-200,000 barrels are ‌flowing today, we said that's fine - we can allocate 750,000 barrels to you,” Bayraktar told reporters ‌after a cabinet meeting on Monday.

GOAL OF EXTENDING PIPELINE

Bayraktar said Türkiye wanted to ‌sign a new, more comprehensive agreement within one year, reiterating Ankara's goal of extending the pipeline south from Kirkuk to the Basra Gulf region and increasing its capacity to 2.5 million bpd.

"If Kuwait wants to put its oil into this pipeline, let it do so. If others in ‌the Gulf wish to use it, they could as well," he said.

He added that a natural gas pipeline could be built alongside ⁠an extended oil ⁠line and could transport gas from Qatar or other sources.

Bayraktar also said the $1.5 billion arbitration award against Türkiye forms part of the negotiations over a new pipeline agreement.

In February 2023, an international arbitration tribunal ruled that Türkiye had violated the 1976 pipeline agreement by allowing oil exports from the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region between 2014 and 2018 without the approval of Iraq's central government, ordering Türkiye to pay net compensation of $1.5 billion.

Under the main ruling, Türkiye was ordered to pay Iraq around $2 billion, while Iraq was ordered to pay Türkiye more than $500 million for underpaid transportation fees dating back to the 1990s. Analysts have said Türkiye's net liability could be reduced further once interest calculations are taken into account.

Following the award, Iraq and Türkiye filed cases in Washington, DC relating to enforcement of the ruling and the calculation of interest. Bayraktar said those proceedings remain ongoing.

Business

Gold Recovers from Two-Week Low Ahead of US Inflation Figures

A customer holds a gold chain at a jewellery store in Mumbai, India, January 30, 2026. (Reuters)
A customer holds a gold chain at a jewellery store in Mumbai, India, January 30, 2026. (Reuters)
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Gold Recovers from Two-Week Low Ahead of US Inflation Figures

A customer holds a gold chain at a jewellery store in Mumbai, India, January 30, 2026. (Reuters)
A customer holds a gold chain at a jewellery store in Mumbai, India, January 30, 2026. (Reuters)

Gold rose on Tuesday after hitting a two-week low earlier in the session, as markets awaited key US inflation data, with escalating US-Iran tensions driving oil prices higher and reinforcing expectations of further Federal Reserve rate hikes.

Spot gold was up 0.5% at $4,021.62 per ounce by 0440 GMT, recovering from its lowest level since July ‌1. US gold ‌futures for August delivery gained 0.6% at $4,028.

Gold shed ‌about ⁠3% in the ⁠previous session, its biggest daily percentage decline in more than a month, as continued fighting between the US and Iran drove oil prices to a one-month high.

While gold is often viewed as a hedge against inflation, higher rates tend to weigh on the non-yielding metal by increasing the appeal of interest-bearing assets.

"You ⁠have a situation where the markets probably ‌don't want to commit. They have ‌a big batch of event risks in front of them. There's, of ‌course, the Warsh testimony and then the CPI print, so ‌there's a lot for people to look at in addition to the headlines out of the Middle East," said Ilya Spivak, head of global macro at Tastylive.

Investors will closely watch June US CPI data ‌due later in the day for fresh clues on inflation and the Fed's policy path, ⁠with PPI data ⁠and Fed Chair Kevin Warsh's first semi-annual testimony before Congress this week also in focus.

The US central bank may need to raise interest rates "in the near term" if coming data show inflation continuing well above the 2% target, Fed Governor Christopher Waller said on Monday.

Traders have ramped up bets on a September US interest rate hike, with CME Group's FedWatch Tool showing the probability rising to around 76% from 57% a week ago.

Elsewhere, spot silver inched 0.1% higher to $57.70 per ounce, having earlier touched a two-week low. Platinum fell 0.1% to $1,603.72 and palladium rose 1.4% to $1,264.61.

Business

China’s June Oil Imports Hit Near 10-Year Low Amid Iran War

Containers are seen at the port in Shanghai on July 14, 2026. (AFP)
Containers are seen at the port in Shanghai on July 14, 2026. (AFP)
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China’s June Oil Imports Hit Near 10-Year Low Amid Iran War

Containers are seen at the port in Shanghai on July 14, 2026. (AFP)
Containers are seen at the port in Shanghai on July 14, 2026. (AFP)

China's June crude imports slumped 41.3% to their lowest in almost a decade as refinery run rates hit a ten-year low due to weak domestic demand and export curbs on refined oil products to safeguard energy security amid the Iran war.

China imported 29.27 million tons of crude oil in June, or 7.12 million barrels per day, the lowest since October 2016, customs data showed on Tuesday.

The slump extended into June from May, with imports falling by another 12%, after oil imports hit an eight-year low ‌in May.

China's seaborne ‌crude imports stood at around 6 ‌million ⁠bpd in June, with ⁠imports from the Middle East hitting their lowest level in ten years and Iranian oil imports also dropping 40% month on month to below 800 thousand barrels per day, according to ship-tracking company Vortexa.

In June, the utilization rate of China's crude distillation units stood at 57.72%, down 3.28 percentage points month on month and down ⁠13.09 percentage points year on year, according to Chinese ‌consultancy Oilchem.

"Refinery run rates were ‌likely near a 10-year low, weighed down by weak domestic demand and ‌refined oil product export restrictions. But if refined product exports ‌are eased, run rates could see a partial rebound," said Emma Li, analyst at Vortexa.

Lower Chinese imports are freeing up oil for other buyers, while the market is also weighing the permanent loss of demand from China, ‌as the steep drop in fuel consumption after oil prices soared suggests China can live on ⁠less oil ⁠due to its massive EV fleet.

Customs data also showed natural gas imports rose 3.7% year on year to 10.9 million tons in June.

However, natural gas imports in the first half of 2026 dropped 3.4% to 57.45 million tons from the same period last year.

The data does not separate LNG from gas piped overland.

China's refined oil product exports stood at 4.36 million tons in June.

In the first six months, China exported 23.59 million tons of refined oil products, down 13.2% year-on-year due to export restrictions imposed in March to safeguard domestic supply amid the Iran war.