Thread: Iraq/Dinar News. (before Jan.20,2007)

Originally Posted by Mike5200

I think its the same thing they did last week- hold the rate at 1300 til the close of business Sun night.

I understand that, but it's always been like that and this statement is new as of last week. Just thought it was odd thats all.

No, this policy was new last week - they usually have an auction on Sunday.

Originally Posted by greatstuff

No, this policy was new last week - they usually have an auction on Sunday.

But they had this statement for last week also to cover until the end of Sunday and they had an auction on Sunday. I just don't know why they have to put this on the site now, or what the reason is to keep the price the same on Sunday as it was on Thursday.

Originally Posted by frathousemicrowave

But they had this statement for last week also to cover until the end of Sunday and they had an auction on Sunday. I just don't know why they have to put this on the site now, or what the reason is to keep the price the same on Sunday as it was on Thursday.

the Auction on Sunday is for Monday (trading in New York); therefore, everything is covered until that time.

I have a *think-tank* type question to pose . . .

Could the dropping per barrel oil prices have anything to do with the fact that the Iraq Oil law will be in place VERY soon . . .

Last I heard = Iraq is *NOT* a member of OPEC . . . hmmm . . .

Many look at their entry into the oil market as the beginning of the death throws of OPEC ?? . . .

LEADING STORY

Aging and Shut, Iraq Factories May Reopen and Mitigate Ills

Iraqi factories went dark after the invasion for a variety of reasons, including an insistence by the initial American occupation authority that once they closed, vibrant free markets would spring into existence to fill the void. A few officials and local leaders are now returning to the plants in hopes of finding a cheaper way to create jobs. Read




BREAKING NEWS


REFILE-Pentagon sees U.S. war cost in Iraq rising
(Reuters) Jan 18 2007 23:46

Addax Petroleum says output rose 38 pct last year
(Reuters) Jan 18 2007 22:49

Pentagon sets rules for terrorism suspect trials
(Reuters) Jan 18 2007 22:8

Bush on Iraq plan: "I believe it will work"
(Reuters) Jan 18 2007 21:32

American Airlines Extends Special Fares and Other Offers for U.S. Military Personnel...
(Reuters) Jan 18 2007 21:19

Posted by: nadioshka on Thursday, January 18, 2007 - 02:22 PM

Iraq-Currency
Dollar bids lower, exchange rates keep falling in Iraqi auction
By Dergham Mohammed Ali
Baghdad, Jan 18, (VOI) – Dollar demand was sharply lower on Thursday, the last trading session this week, reaching $65.770 million compared to $113 million on Wednesday in Iraq’s central bank daily auction.
Wednesday’s session saw the biggest demand rise recorded in one session as bids jumped $90 million.
In its daily statement on Thursday the bank said it covered all bids which were $33.690 million in cash and $32.80 million in foreign transfers at an exchange rate of 1,300 dinars per dollar, five dinars lower than Wednesday’s rate.
Fourteen banks participated in Thursday’s auction and offered to sell $207,000 which the central bank bought all at 1,298 dinars per dollar rate.
Economist Abdul-Razzaq Sadeq al-Abaiji told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI) the demand was lower at the last session of the trading week, but it was still within a good range considering the continuous fall in exchange rates which reflects market flexibility.

US aims to restart 10 Iraqi factories in weeks
(Reuters)

18 January 2007



BAGHDAD - US officials have drawn up a list of 10 former state-run Iraqi factories they hope to restart within weeks to employ 11,000 people, kicking off a plan aimed at giving potential insurgents an economic reason not to fight.


Paul Brinkley, Deputy Undersecretary of Defence for business transformation, said the factories on the “top 10 list” are among 200 major factories around Iraq that used to employ more than 300,000 people before the March 2003 US invasion.

US policy immediately after the invasion was to promote privatisation so most state-run factories closed.

That left their employees surviving on stipends of about 30 to 40 percent of their former salaries and had a ripple effect on the economy, for example on farmers whose produce was no longer bought by food-processing plants, Brinkley said.

“The core effort right now is to restore employment to as many of the Iraqi people as we can,” Brinkley told a news conference in Baghdad. “We think that will improve stability. It will undermine insurgent sympathy.”

The factory programme is billed as part of US President George W. Bush’s new strategy of ramping up economic aid and reconstruction, in tandem with extra troops to stem violence.

Iraq’s population is around 26 million, though there has been no recent census. Unemployment stands at around 18 percent, according to Brinkley, who said another 30 percent were ”underemployed” or working just 15 hours a week. Those figures do not include idled state factory workers, Brinkley said.

Conceding that US policy had been based on the false assumption that Iraq’s industry was “Soviet-style” and inefficient, Brinkley said a gradual transformation to the private sector was now favored over rapid privatisation.

“It’s a difficult thing to get a private sector investor to look at an empty factory,” he said.

Brinkley said the first 10 factories were spread around the country and covered a range of industries, including cement, heavy industry, machine parts, textiles and tractors. He said only around $10 million was needed to get them running.

One has already restarted and is supplying goods to US forces in Iraq. He declined to identify it, however, saying he did not want to make it a target for insurgent attacks.

“We hope we will see (the 10 factories) ... restoring their full employment over the next two or three months,” he said.

US funding will be available where factories have been damaged by military operations, for example, Brinkley said, while the Iraqi government would pay for capital investment.

Bush pledged an additional $1.2 billion in reconstruction funds earlier this month, but Brinkley said that covered the whole range of economic projects, including restoring sewerage, water and electrical infrastructure.

Japan gives $414M for Iraq pipeline
Posted on : 2007-01-18 | Author : Energy News Editor
News Category : Environment


TOKYO, Jan. 18 (UPI) Japan will loan $685 million for oil and electricity work in Iraq, part of a $5 billion in grants and loans in reconstruction funds.

Kyodo News reports more than $414 million will go toward constructing an oil pipeline in Basra. Basra is Iraq's main port, where most of Iraq's 1.5 million barrels of day in exports flow from.

Another $270 million will be used to repair Iraq's electricity grid.

Both the oil and electricity sectors have been decimated by the war, as well as U.N. sanctions and mismanagement under Saddam Hussein.

Iraq produces just around 2 million barrels or oil a day, about half a million less than before the war.

Oil and the electricity sectors are attacked regularly by militias and insurgents in Iraq. Electricity is unreliable at best, forcing both residents and the refineries into regular blackouts.

Japan will dole out the money through its Japan Bank for International Cooperation through this year.

The loans -- $3.6 billion of the $5 billion total in aid -- will be for 40 years. The remainder is given to Iraq as grants.


Copyright 2007 by United Press International




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Iraq militias take millions in oil thefts
Posted on : 2007-01-18 | Author : Energy News Editor
News Category : Environment


BAGHDAD, Jan. 18 (UPI) A top Iraqi official said militias have been able to steal millions of dollars from the oil ministry, funding their organizations and creating a fuel crisis.

Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh said the militias are those fighting the U.S. coalition and Iraq troops, the Arabic daily newspaper Azzaman reports.

He said they have been able to steal $1.5 million a year from the Baiji refinery, the largest refinery in Iraq serving oil coming from fields in Iraq's north.

Iraq oil production hasn't recovered from the March 2003 invasion and subsequent violence. It was already suffering under U.N. sanctions and misuse and mismanagement by Saddam Hussein.

More than three-quarters of the 2 million barrels per day production comes from fields in the south, controlled by Shiites but relatively nonviolent.

In the north, attacks on the refinery and the Kirkuk-to-Ceyhan, Turkey, pipeline have virtually shut down most production and all exports from the region.

Iraq suffers from lack of oil production, low refining capacity and a refined fuel products shortage, forcing it to import fuel such as gasoline and kerosene.

Crime is behind the fuel crisis, Saleh said. We have a regime and an administration that encourages corruption.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/?rid...1d0aaa23b24a75