Thread: Iraq/Dinar News to April 19, 2007 10PM CST

They say it was at 1206 today but I did not see 1206 I saw 1212.5 and now 1213.6 I seen it go nowhere but up for the past week starting at 1209. I'm hoping Sunday's auction doesn't reflect a reverse trend.

Did you see the Euro today? 1.3538 93% Euro = 1.260

Originally Posted by Dinar Cha Ching

Unbelivable. This anti-HCL article is still being printed?

The only recycling they do there are old news.....I can't imagine anyone believing putting Iraq to work and giving jobs to the idle is unprofitable for Iraq. The whole idea of security is twofold one being the economic side. But you can't blame big oil for not wanting the ground rules laid out before they dump their capital in.The pros far outweigh the cons.....problem is the old school folks there want their cake and eat it too....they want all the expertise and all the private funding that comes from big oil and they also want all the profit as well. They do not consider that jobs cause wealth and happy citizens breed stability The movement of money fuels further job growth. These guys really need to go to econ101.... one more point; it’s a misrepresentation to say Iraq is giving up sovereignty of her oil. Though its not in here interest to do so the fact is ultimately Iraq could pull a Hugo anytime they wanted to …..

A CRY FOR PEACE FROM
THE CHILDREN OF IRAQ


We, the suffering children of Iraq ask for your solidarity in organizing a 2 minutes action for peace, calling on all fighters to put down their weapons and seek other, more peaceful, means in solving their differences. Today, the people of Iraq in their entirety are facing the most crucial moment in their recent history. Our whole nation is facing a grave crisis as regards to our national security, unity of the country, and safeguarding of our existence.

Thousands of innocent men, women, and children have been killed and injured by these appalling terrorist attacks and sectarian infighting. More are dying every day and millions are at risk of starvation, and disease infestation. As of today, Hundreds of thousands are displaced refugees. Unexploded munitions remain scattered across the landscape; each bomb is a potential threat to an Iraqi child.

According to figures issued by Johns Hopkins University 655,000 or 2.5% of the Iraqi population has perished since 2003. We are confident that you will see This as an enormous figure and we believe it certainly merits your consideration for this day of action. There are also 6.5 million Iraqis living outside the country, leaving behind their homes, their lands, and their families.

The two minutes is not only a symbol of our children’s cry for peace. And a chance for us all to reflect and remember the victims and their families - but it's also a chance to show our solidarity that we will stand strong and united with the people of Iraq against terrorism and violence and the heartache it brings. We consider this to be an International examination of conscience and ask for your kind assistance in organizing this important, heart warming, and humanitarian event.

The 1st of June will be an ideal day. We ask your help in generating support for our cause. It will be our dream to see every Church bells ringing, every mosque, every temple, every car horn, and everyone in this world give their support to those two minutes in one way or another.

May you have peace, and we thank you in advance.

For more info
[email protected]


Cheers!
DayDream

Below is a flyer that can be printed out and distributed.

Originally Posted by Inscrutable

They say it was at 1206 today but I did not see 1206 I saw 1212.5 and now 1213.6 I seen it go nowhere but up for the past week starting at 1209. I'm hoping Sunday's auction doesn't reflect a reverse trend.

It was at 1206 in the early hours Inscrutable...then went up.

Source : Iraq raises price of oil to the United States in May
Source : Reuters-13 / 04 / 2007

The oil industry source said on Wednesday that Iraq is lifting the official selling price for the Basra Light crude shipped May to customers Americans at 3.60 dollars per barrel.

Under the increase imposed by the Iraqi State Oil Marketing Company (SOMO) purchasers paying the price of raw American West Texas Intermediate minus $ 3.30 per barrel for Basrah Light crude in May, down from minus $ 6.90 in April.

The decision comes in the wake of a similar increase from Saudi Arabia to clients Americans.

The increased rate in May to buyers in Europe's Basra light crude 85 cents to the average price of raw crude immediate and Fortes and Osberg minus $ 4.85per barrel compared with minus $ 5.70 in April.

Bear buyers in Asia increase of 20 cents on May shipments. The average pay Khami Oman and Dubai minus $ 2.35 a barrel, down from minus $ 2.55 per barrel in April shipments, according to the source.

Many bids received from international companies to invest

Fawzi Hariri: Our investment based on local and international cooperation
Translated by IRAQdirectory.com - [13/04/2007]

Iraqi Minister of Industry and Minerals, Fawzi Hariri, announced the start of concluding agreements with the local, Arab and international companies according to the system of the strategic partner with the industry companies that will continue for 10 - to 20 years.

He added in a press conference: “The ministry put forth twelve investment file concerning the industries of: cement, iron and steel, petrochemicals, fertilizers, auto industry, glass and paper for the purposes of rehabilitation in within a comprehensive program prepared by the ministry for rehabilitating and modernizing these factories”. The aim of the rehabilitation operations is to increase the production capacity and develop these factories, as well as the establishment of non-polluting industries to the environment using specialized international companies. Hariri disclosed that the working group in charge of this task has put some general conditions of contracting, that give priority to ensuring the rights of workers in those factories, improve their living conditions and grant them a number of advantages and incentives to retain all employees and their contribution to the process of rehabilitation and the payment of salaries, allowances and benefits and coverage of any increases, according to the laws and regulations worked by in Iraq; such conditions must be agreed on before signing contracts with any company to carry out the rehabilitation.

Hariri reviewed some facts about a number of industries, including: the Glass Company which will be presented at an estimated cost of investment of about $ 50 million, the General Company for Petrochemical Industry, which represents one of the pillars of Iraqi industry and where 4000 employees work, is put forth to investment at about 100-120 million dollars. Hariri expected that the Company of the Iron and Steel will need investment of about $180-220 million to rebuild the structure of the company, the furnaces and the production of iron needed by Iraq to support the reconstruction process; while the cement plants in Al-Qaaem, Sinjar, Karbala and Muthanna, will need investment estimated at about $ 360 million.

Minister of Industry expressed optimism of the consequences of putting these industries for investment, and that these industries will receive large number of offers, emphasizing that investment would be open for many other industries in case investors were available, such as the textile industries that are currently witnessing significant challenges to prove their worth like the Clothes factory in Najaf, one of the best factories in the Middle East, and which signed a contract for supplying global institutions with its production. It is expected that the staff wages in companies offered for investment will be more than these of their peers in public companies, and that the production capacities of some of those factories will rise to 120% of their design.

The minister confirmed that preference will be to the offers that serve the interests of the ministry, the employees and the State, praising the positive role of governors and provincial assemblies in supporting the investment process in Iraq, stressing that the ministry has set the announcement of those bids within 45 days, and that the process of selecting bidders will be within the week or two that follow, and that these investments will be at open periods ranging from 10-20 years.

With regard to the rehabilitation of the companies’ plants, the statement said that it was divided into three stages giving priority to the implementation of the plants according to a number of criteria represented in: the availability of raw materials used in production locally, the plants that receive significant demand for their products, reducing the import of materials produced in these plants and the stability of the security situation in the governorates where these plants are located.

Ministry of Industry said that the government's policy is clear concerning the investment and the shift from the public sector to the private sector or free market, and it will trend towards supporting the private sector and the Iraqi industry. This was announced by Iraqi Prime Minister and all the concerned ministries; the Ministry had actually begun applying the gradual transition and privatization of State enterprises and the support to increase their ability to compete in the market, and we are confident of their potentials because of the experience and the elements of success they possess, particularly in the market.

Hariri explained that most of the planned contracts will be based on finding the strategic partner, and preference would be to the one capable of providing modern services, technological possibilities widely known, rehabilitating the cadres and financing of this process. There is also a study to create a sort of tacit agreements, which show the diversity of contracts depending on the type and nature of the institution, saying that there was high demand from many Arab and regional companies to invest because they are sure that the poor security conditions will not last long, and some of them expressed a desire to invest even in unsettled regions.

On the salaries of these companies, he explained that in case of investing them there will be a greater chance for increasing grades from four degrees to 11 degrees in addition to the profit margin achieved, because some companies have stopped now due to their need for financing to be provided by the investor; however, the investment does not mean the government will abandon the employees of those companies, but they will continue to receive salaries from the government even in the private system.

Originally Posted by Lunar

Source : Iraq raises price of oil to the United States in May
Source : Reuters-13 / 04 / 2007

The oil industry source said on Wednesday that Iraq is lifting the official selling price for the Basra Light crude shipped May to customers Americans at 3.60 dollars per barrel.

Under the increase imposed by the Iraqi State Oil Marketing Company (SOMO) purchasers paying the price of raw American West Texas Intermediate minus $ 3.30 per barrel for Basrah Light crude in May, down from minus $ 6.90 in April.

The decision comes in the wake of a similar increase from Saudi Arabia to clients Americans.

The increased rate in May to buyers in Europe's Basra light crude 85 cents to the average price of raw crude immediate and Fortes and Osberg minus $ 4.85per barrel compared with minus $ 5.70 in April.

Bear buyers in Asia increase of 20 cents on May shipments. The average pay Khami Oman and Dubai minus $ 2.35 a barrel, down from minus $ 2.55 per barrel in April shipments, according to the source.

Thats gratitude, oh I'm sorry I mean politics for you.
Leann

Shell ready to return to Iraq after 35 years
This Is Money - [13/04/2007]

Shell is set to become the first oil major to return to war-torn Iraq since the nationalisation of the country's oil industry 35 years ago.

The Anglo-Dutch group is close to announcing a partnership with the Turkish state oil business TPAO to build a gas export pipeline and reopen gas extraction in the northern republic of Kurdistan.
The pipeline is believed to run alongside an existing one which connects the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan with the giant Iraqi oilfield in Kirkuk. A Shell spokesman said the company has yet to sign any contracts but admitted it had been in talks about re-entering Iraq.

Shell was one of the biggest players in Iraq from the 1920s right up until nationalisation of the oil industry by Saddam Hussein in 1972.

The US administration has been running the country's oil industry since the invasion in 2003 but the Iraq government is poised to pass new legislation designed to encourage international oil and gas companiesto resume exploration and production in the country.

Last month Shell's Matthias Bichsel, a senior exploration executive, confirmed that the company had met Iraqi officials in Oman, where Shell has a large gas project, to discuss plans for rebuilding Iraq's gas industry. The company has also reportedly held talks over carrying out oilfield development in Kirkuk in the north and in the Maysan oilfield in the south.

Kurdistan oil minister Ashti Harwani has said he hopes to grant up to ten exploration and production licences for the region by the end of this year.

Shell said its re-entry to Iraq had always been conditional on free elections, ratification of oil and gas legislation and the security of its people.

A spokesman said neither the second nor third conditions had yet been met. He said: 'Shell is exploring various opportunities to monetise Iraq's gas through exports to gas markets around the world. We are also committed to creating a domestic energy infrastructure alongside that to support Iraq's domestic power generation.'

Kurdistan remains one of the least-explored regions in the oilrich Middle East. Analysts estimate it has anything from 12bn to 45bn barrels of oil and up to 100 trillion cubic feet of gas.

The region is seen by most Western companies as one of the safest parts of Iraq and probably the best way back into the war-torn country.

BG, BP, Exxon, Chevron and Total are said to be interested in taking stakes in the Iraqi industry.

Will Asian firms win oil deals in Iraq?
Translated by IRAQdirectory.com - [13/04/2007]

Despite the accusations directed by some observers to the administration of President George Bush that he launched war against Iraq with the aim of controlling its oil resources, a number of Asian oil companies, especially from China, India, Vietnam and Indonesia, may win the first foreign contracts of investment in Iraq's oil sector.

While the Iraqi Parliament is still making further consultations on the new oil law, which would regulate the working conditions of foreign oil companies in Iraq as well as how to distribute the proceeds of oil exports, the Iraqi government intends to continue working with those companies from Asian States, which had won previous deals during the rule of the late President Saddam Hussein.

James Black, a large contributor to the "Cambridge" Institution for energy research and specialized in Middle East affairs, said: "The Chinese may announce new contracts with Iraq in the next few months", if the current progress in consultations on the new oil law continues.

Oil expert, Falah al-Jabouri, who worked as an adviser to a number of oil ministers of Iraq and a number of "OPEC" countries, said : "Asian companies have many additional advantages against Western companies, such as: these companies did not pay any attention, in the past, to Western sanctions on Iraq, and they know Iraqi oilfields very well".

Al-Jabouri hinted that the Chinese may win the first contracts, under the new oil law, in the central southern Iraq while Vietnamese may gain the right to work south of the country, and the Indians along the lines with Kuwait, as for the Indonesians, they may win the right to work in the desert west of Baghdad.

The Iraqi oil expert, pointed out that the initial contracts with Asian companies will be relatively limited, explaining that the offer from the Chinese company, includes the extraction of 70 thousand barrels of oil per day, while the Vietnamese company will extract 60 thousand barrels per day.

The Energy Committee in the Iraqi Parliament will hold a symposium on the "controversial" draft law on oil and gas, in the Emirate of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, under the slogan "scientific and technical reading in the light of national interests of Iraq".

The symposium will be chaired by Sheikh Khalid al-Attiyah, first deputy chairman of the Iraqi parliament, and attended by a number of Iraqi political figures, including: Dr. Barham Salih, Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister, Dr. Hussein Shahrastani, oil minister and Ali Baban, Minister of Planning and Development Cooperation, as well as the oil minister in "Kurdistan" region, in addition to a number of the Iraqi parliament’s members, and a group of experts in the field of oil.

The symposium aims to discuss the draft law of oil and gas and the new strategic and technical dimensions of this law which will organize the work of the Iraqi oil sector, before submitting it to the Iraqi parliament for discussion and ratification.

Iraqi media quoted Sheikh Khaled al-Attiyah, as saying that the holding of this seminar outside Iraq, "is to provide a suitable atmosphere for the discussion of the bill, away from the political tensions at home, and ensure more open atmosphere of learning all minute details that could be raised during the symposium, as well as to enable a number of dignitaries who can not travel to Iraq because of the security situation from attending the seminar".

The Presidential Council had referred the Iraqi oil and gas law, which was approved by the government of Maliki, to the parliament for discussion and voting on it, and that created angry reactions by some political blocs which saw in it "a waste of national wealth which will be captive to foreign investments to certain States, and deprive companies in some countries from participation, because of their countries’ political stands".

Other political blocs condemned their Ministers voting for the Law, which was considered "a personal opinion," that does not express the point of view of these blocks.