Thread: Iraqi/Dinar News before 3-12-2007 7:45PM CentralTimeZone

cancellation of the remaining Paris Club debt and to maintain the current fuel prices

Pardon moi if already posted



العراقStudents of Arab States and Russia to reduce their dues implications on Iraq
بغداد - طارق الاعرجيBaghdad-Tariq Al-Araji
اعلن 15%. The Minister of Oil, Dr. Hussein Shahrastani success of the Iraqi delegation in talks with the International Monetary Fund to reduce the remainder of the debt Iraq's 20%, while able to convince the IMF delegation to withdraw his request to raise the prices of oil derivatives to price levels global and kept on the increase by 15%.




وبمقتضىلامارات العربية.Under this agreement, Iraq is not obliged to raise the prices of oil derivatives to the level of prices in the countries of the world. He said Shahrastani in the a press statement : Iraq was able to reduce its debt by 20%, which is 28 billion dollars during the negotiations held with IMF delegation international in the United Arab Emirates.
واضاف.He added that the Iraqi delegation was also able to convince the International Monetary Fund to withdraw its demand to raise the prices of oil derivatives to price levels global and maintain the proposal to raise prices by 15%, to the fact that the living situation of the Iraqi people does not allow the imposition of more of these increase.
التي طلبها.He explained that the International Monetary Fund will be in April next report of the Paris Club creditors in explaining honoring Iraq on its economic reforms that request.
.Shahrastani and appealed to Arab and foreign countries to emulate the United States, which abolished the debt of Iraq (100%), reducing Britain Europe and the debt ratio of 80%.
وقال:).He said : (China announced a few days ago to exempt Iraq from government debt We, therefore, call upon the Arab States and Russia to reduce their debts to Iraq). وبين .Shahrastani and that the debt on Iraq's 140 billion dollars had been reduced to the form of last term rates for reforms economic resorted to Iraq, mainly to raise the prices of petroleum products, Iraq was able to work this Agreement and the reduction of the remaining percentages its debts amounting to 20%.
هذا.This included the Iraqi delegation in the UAE as well as the oil minister, Baqer Jabr Al-Zubaydi, Minister of Finance, Central Bank Governor Dr. Sinan Shabibi.

ÌÑíÏÉ ÇáÕÈÇÍ - ÇáÔåÑÓÊÇäí : ÅáÛÇÁ ÇáãÊÈÞí ãä Ïíæä äÇÏí ÈÇÑíÓ æ ÇáÇÈÞÇÁ Úáì ÃÓÚÇÑ ÇáæÞæÏ ÇáÍÇáíÉ

Thanks everyone for all the great articles I must say after reading them all today (When little one would permit) you certainly can feel the momentum building in all this Thanks again

Originally Posted by rvalreadydang

I don't feel like reading......read me a story?

Oh yes please, one with a happy and pro$perou$ ending if you don't mind!

Originally Posted by boxmama

Oh yes please, one with a happy and pro$perou$ ending if you don't mind!

yes!

I've been reading most of th day (in and out) it seems there some good news coming out that we are getting a little closer. Unless I have missed something in the reading, Did parliment meet today on the HCL? Sure would like to do some good reading going into the weekend to spice things up and make friday and saturday fly by.

International
Iraq Oil Law Necessary But Not Sufficient
Oxford Analytica 03.07.07, 6:00 AM ET


Iraq's Council of Ministers has set the end of May as the target for parliamentary approval of the draft hydrocarbons framework law. Endorsement by the cross-factional cabinet means the draft oil law is more likely to receive parliamentary approval.

The draft hydrocarbons framework law represents a compromise between the centralizing instincts of Iraq's Arab factions and efforts by the Kurdish parties to retain near-autonomy. The draft law establishes three principles:

1. Centralized Control Of Revenues. The central government will control and distribute oil receipts.

2. Partly Decentralized Development. The draft law envisages an era of unprecedented decentralization in the development oil and gas fields. Key institutional reforms include:

--Ministry Of Oil. The ministry will become a largely administrative body focused on the promotion of hydrocarbons development, development of federal policy and negotiation of agreements with other states.

--Iraqi National Oil Company. INOC will be established as a holding vehicle that will manage and operate existing production fields.

3. Foreign Involvement In Upstream. The law grants regions and regional oil companies the right to draw up contracts with foreign companies for exploration and development of new oil fields. It does not specify what kinds of contracts are allowed, thus making room for production sharing agreements (PSAs).

As well as approving contracts and amending their length and terms, the Federal Oil and Gas Council will determine federal petroleum policies, exploration plans, field development and pipeline plans inside Iraq. The council will rule on the unitization of fields shared by different regions:

--One of its first tasks could be the consideration of the five PSAs signed by the Kurdistan Regional Government and foreign companies, as well as six outstanding PSA contracts between the Saddam regime and companies.

--In particular, the council would seek to bring the internal rate of return on these deals in line with a lower nationally set benchmark for such deals.

The council is a forum for factions to resolve differences over their interpretations of the hydrocarbons law. Throughout the three drafts, the composition of the council has been massaged to reflect this role. The body may be too large to be an efficient decision-making forum.

Furthermore, seats will be divided between key factions according to an agreed formula, suggesting that candidates may be selected along factional lines rather than technical capability.

The key stakeholders likely to be involved in Iraq's hydrocarbons sector have welcomed cabinet approval of the draft law. Each has interests reflected in the compromise law:

--Iraqi government. For the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, the endorsement of the law by the multi-factional Council of Ministers is a notable success.

--United Iraqi Alliance. The main Shia bloc views the draft law as a means to strengthen Baghdad's hold over the highly autonomous Southern Oil Company and block moves by Basra's provincial leadership to claim an estimated 60% of proven oil reserves.

--Kurdish parties. The current draft reflects alterations to meet the demands of Kurdish leaders. Future disputes may arise from the Federal Oil and Gas Council's interpretation of the law.

--IOCs. The draft law is a key precursor to international involvement in Iraq's hydrocarbons sector, and many aspects of the law will be attractive to international oil companies (IOCs). Yet, a national framework for contracts and regulation is not sufficient to attract IOCs in the near term.

The next step will be the creation of a revenue-sharing law and other pieces of legislation dealing with institutional reform. These will need to be approved by the cabinet and thereafter parliament. Key difficulties include:

--Census. The per capita distribution of funds will require a politically sensitive census to be undertaken.

--Politicization. The Federal Oil and Gas Council could be disrupted by broader factional disputes.

--Brain Drain. The Ministry of Oil and INOC will struggle to recruit skilled hydrocarbons sector technocrats.

Cabinet endorsement of the draft hydrocarbons law represents a success for central governance in Iraq. The legislation is necessary, but not sufficient, to attract the near-term involvement of international oil companies, and many hurdles remain in the effort to develop Iraq's hydrocarbons industry.

To read an extended version of this article, log on to Oxford Analytica's Web site.

Oxford Analytica is an independent strategic-consulting firm drawing on a network of more than 1,000 scholar experts at Oxford and other leading universities and research institutions around the world. For more information, please visit www.oxan.com. To find out how to subscribe to the firm's Daily Brief Service, click here.

Sunni clerics group attacks Iraq's draft oil law

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BAGHDAD, 07 March 2007 (Reuters)

An influential Sunni Arab group criticised Iraq's long awaited oil investment law on Tuesday, accusing the United States and Britain of invading the country out of greed for its vast oil wealth.

Iraq's cabinet agreed a draft of the law last month after months of wrangling, sending it to parliament for final approval.

The law sets out how oil revenues will be divided among the population and regulates how foreign companies will be able to invest in exploration and production.

Iraqi and U.S. officials have said the law will be a crucial ingredient for Iraqi reconciliation. It states that oil revenues will be spread evenly according to population around the country rather than staying in the region where the oil is found.

Sunni Arabs have long feared that Shi'ites and ethnic Kurds, who sit on top of Iraq's vast oil fields, will not share the country's wealth in an even way.

The Muslim Scholars Association, a leading Sunni clerics group accused by the Iraqi government of fomenting violence, said the law as drafted was "invalid and lacks legitimacy".

"The occupation forces have been rushing to pass such a law in a way that the rights of generations of Iraqis will sold," the group said in a statement, adding that U.S. and British forces had "hidden their intentions for many years".

"The Americans backed by the British occupation forces have started to reveal their greed for Iraq's oil wealth," it said.

The Muslim Scholars Association is influential amongst disaffected Sunni Arabs, once the dominant group in Iraq under Saddam Hussein but now marginalised since multiparty elections in 2005 swept majority Shi'ites and Kurds to power.

Sunni Arab insurgent attacks on Iraq's oil infrastructure are already affecting exports, particularly from northern Iraq.

Security before Syria pipeline opens

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BAGHDAD, 07 March 2007 (UPI)

Iraq's oil minister said he wants to repair and reopen the pipeline to Syria, but called on Damascus to better monitor their border for insurgents.

Though there is no deal yet, Iraq Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani said both Baghdad and Damascus are "keen to reactivate the pipeline for the transfer of crude oil via Syrian territories."

The ministry wants to increase the number of export options for Iraq, the Iraqi newspaper Azzaman reports.

Iraq relies on exports for more than 92 percent of its budget. Exports dropped in January when production sank from around 2 million barrels per day to 1.7 million bpd.

The pipeline had limited operations, for two years before the war.

"The repair of the pipeline is a complicated process because no oil has been flowing through it for a long time," Shahristani said, adding "The pipeline's rehabilitation ... will need many requirements which will have to be met by both sides."

Though no oil has been sent into Syria, the pipeline, which picks up just southwest of Haditha, Iraq, has been attacked like the rest of the country's infrastructure.

Shahristani said the security and repair issues need to be addressed before Syria starts receiving oil from the pipeline.

"It is important for the Syrian side to prevent the infiltration of saboteurs from its territories who target Iraqis and Iraq's vital installations namely pipelines and oil projects," Shahristani said.

Iraqis participate in contracting workshop

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

07 March 2007 (PortAl Iraq)

Fallujah construction firm representatives attended a seminar recently to learn about the regulations and bid submittal requirements on proposed contracts. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Al Anbar Area Office hosted the contractor workshop at the Fallujah Development Center. Twenty Iraqis attended the event.

USACE Contract Specialist Dan Cahill and Saber Qader, the U.S. State Dept. Bilingual Bicultural Adviser assigned to USACE's Al Anbar office, presented the following information:

• Accessing solicitation Web sites - Baghdad Business Center.

• Reading and understanding government solicitation requirements.

• Understanding the key steps in the USACE contracting process, from Scope of Work to Contract Award.

• Creating a winning proposal.

• Complying with the Defense Base Act worker insurance requirement.

• Submitting accurate Electronic Fund Transfer information for payment purposes.

Engineer Khaled from the Al Anbar provincial administration also spoke to the group about the bidding process. Following the event, Cahill said many of the workshop participants commented that the real value of the training was understanding how critical the various bid documents were.

The USACE Resident Office in Fallujah currently has 62 civil works projects valued at $89 million in such areas as the installation of a city

sewer system, construction of the city's first sewer treatment plant as well as many small potable water plants for nearby communities, repair of various electrical distribution lines and substations, and construction of several public schools and health clinics.

Exhibition for construction material kicks off in Arbil
By Abdul-Hamid Zibari

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Arbil, 06 March 2007 (Voices of Iraq)

A five-day construction material exhibition was opened on Monday with the participation of more than 80 companies, most of them Turkish, working in construction field.

"More than 80 Turkish companies participated in the exhibition," Aziz Ibrahim Abdo, member of the preparatory committee for the exhibition and a general director in the ministry of finance from Iraq's Kurdistan region, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).

He noted that Turkish commercial ties with Iraq's Kurdistan would play a pivotal role in strengthening relations between the two governments.

He also underlined that there were more than 350 Turkish companies operating in Kurdistan.

"We are in need of new imported construction materials to speed up construction operations, as well as to implement other projects," Arbil Mayor, Nouzad Hadi, said in statements to VOI.

For his part the coordinator of Turkish companies in Kurdistan, Karkhi Yarmaq, said that bolstering commercial ties was the best way to maintain the two parties' interests and to tackle any misunderstandings.

Turkey has accused Iraq's Kurdistan government of supporting the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
In a joint statement from the Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, which run a Kurdish administration in northern Iraq, these claims were denied.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said last month that his country was ready to develop ties with the Kurdistan government in different sectors.