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

Kuwait and Russia bro. Maliki is off to Kuwait on 24th for 2 days. Sure he'll be offering something like oil contracts in exchange for debt forgiveness.

Russia are close to signing debt forgiveness too. Good news all round.

Do I hear a cha ching?


Report: Iraq oil law nears final stage
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq's hotly debated draft oil law is to be sent to parliament "within the coming few days if everything goes well," the Oil Ministry spokesman said on Wednesday.
"The draft is with the State Shura Council now to be put in a legal form after being written in technical language," Assem Jihad told The Associated Press in a phone interview. He gave no date for the bill's introduction.
"We are expecting to take no more than two months to discuss it inside the parliament ... between one and two months it depends on the parliament," Jihad added.
The Iraqi oil legislation, which was endorsed by the cabinet last February, will open the door for the government to sign contracts for exploration and production of the country's vast untapped reserves.
It was designed to create a fair distribution of oil profits to all Iraqis and it is perhaps the most important piece of legislation for Iraq's American patrons.
Passage of the law, thought to have been written with heavy U.S. involvement, is one of four benchmarks the Bush administration has set for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's struggling government.
Iraq sits on 115 billion barrels proven oil reserves which make it the world's third-largest, but Iraq has lagged in exploration technology.
Iraq exports about 2 million barrels of oil a day of which about 1.6 million barrels are exported through the port of Basra and some 300,000 are being pumped from the northern city of Kirkuk to the Turkish port of Ceyhan.
Oil production has plummeted since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003 as the oil pipelines have faced repeated insurgent sabotage, attacks on maintenance crews, alleged corruption, theft and mismanagement.

Just read that posted on the AP....WOW!!! All coming together in these final days before 3 May...See you drop 60 parliament members down in a resort and see what can be done....bet the Oil Ministry did that to show them what Iraq could also become....

Fred

Originally Posted by Adster

Do I hear a cha ching?


Report: Iraq oil law nears final stage
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq's hotly debated draft oil law is to be sent to parliament "within the coming few days if everything goes well," the Oil Ministry spokesman said on Wednesday.
"The draft is with the State Shura Council now to be put in a legal form after being written in technical language," Assem Jihad told The Associated Press in a phone interview. He gave no date for the bill's introduction.
"We are expecting to take no more than two months to discuss it inside the parliament ... between one and two months it depends on the parliament," Jihad added.
The Iraqi oil legislation, which was endorsed by the cabinet last February, will open the door for the government to sign contracts for exploration and production of the country's vast untapped reserves.
It was designed to create a fair distribution of oil profits to all Iraqis and it is perhaps the most important piece of legislation for Iraq's American patrons.
Passage of the law, thought to have been written with heavy U.S. involvement, is one of four benchmarks the Bush administration has set for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's struggling government.
Iraq sits on 115 billion barrels proven oil reserves which make it the world's third-largest, but Iraq has lagged in exploration technology.
Iraq exports about 2 million barrels of oil a day of which about 1.6 million barrels are exported through the port of Basra and some 300,000 are being pumped from the northern city of Kirkuk to the Turkish port of Ceyhan.
Oil production has plummeted since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003 as the oil pipelines have faced repeated insurgent sabotage, attacks on maintenance crews, alleged corruption, theft and mismanagement.

Sounds like they're taking their foot off the brakes now..Excellent news....

Originally Posted by fredgwest1999

Just read that posted on the AP....WOW!!! All coming together in these final days before 3 May...See you drop 60 parliament members down in a resort and see what can be done....bet the Oil Ministry did that to show them what Iraq could also become....

Fred

Hhmmmm, and Laws have been passed out of country before, maybe it could be the same for the HCL.

Originally Posted by fredgwest1999

Just read that posted on the AP....WOW!!! All coming together in these final days before 3 May...See you drop 60 parliament members down in a resort and see what can be done....bet the Oil Ministry did that to show them what Iraq could also become....

Fred

You know that's a great point i think you're correct they could have "Club Dubai" in Baghdad if they assert themselves.

Iraq plans to control whole nation by end 2007: Maliki

Reuters
Wednesday, April 18, 2007; 5:33 AM

AMARA, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraq plans to take security control of all its provinces from foreign forces before the end of the year, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said in a speech read out by a senior official on Wednesday.

Maliki is under growing pressure from powerful anti-American Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr to set a timetable for the withdrawal of 146,000 U.S. troops from Iraq.

In a speech delivered on his behalf by National Security Adviser Mowaffaq al-Rubaie at a ceremony marking the handover of southern Maysan province from British forces to Iraqi control, Maliki said three provinces in the autonomous Kurdistan region would follow next.

"Maysan ... will be followed by the three Kurdistan provinces, a month from now," Maliki said.

"After that Kerbala and Wasit (provinces). Then it will be province by province until we achieve (this transfer) before the end of the year."

The transfer of Maysan means four of the country's 18 provinces are now under Iraq's security control.

Sadr withdrew six ministers from his political movement from Maliki's government on Monday to press his demand for a timetable for the pullout of American troops.

Maliki has repeatedly said U.S. troops would leave Iraq only when Iraqi forces were ready to take over security.


Iraq plans to control whole nation by end 2007: Maliki - washingtonpost.com

DUBAI (Reuters) -Iraqi cabinet will present an oil law to parliament next week that aims to lure billions of dollars in foreign investment, the country's oil minister said on Wednesday.

"It will be ready next week to be presented to parliament," Hussain al-Shahristani told reporters in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

He said that all political blocs in the Iraqi parliament had agreed to try to pass the law before the end of May.

About 60 Iraqi parliamentarians and experts began a meeting in the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday to discuss the war-torn country's oil law that will give its regions the right to negotiate with global firms on developing oilfields.

In February Iraq's cabinet endorsed the draft oil law, which is awaiting parliament's ratification, regulating how wealth from the country's vast oil reserves will be shared by its ethnic and sectarian groups.

The OPEC member has the world's third-largest proven oil reserves and needs billions of dollars to revive its oil sector, which is crucial for rebuilding its shattered economy. Loading...

By Simon Webb Reuters - Wednesday, April 18DUBAI (Reuters) - Iraq's cabinet will present a much awaited oil law to parliament next week, the country's oil minister said on Wednesday, but the Kurdish region rejected aspects of the emerging legislation.

An oil law is vital for Iraq to attract investment from foreign firms to boost its oil output and rebuild its economy, but disputes that have dogged the lenthgy law-writing process continue to simmer between regional and central governments.

"It will be ready next week to be presented to parliament," Hussain al-Shahristani told reporters in the United Arab Emirates. Around 60 Iraqi parliamentarians and experts met in Dubai to discuss the law that will give its regions rights to negotiate with global firms on developing oilfields.

Shahristani said he expected parliament to make no major amendments of the law, though some minor changes were possible.

He said that all political blocs in parliament had agreed to try to pass the law before the end of May, but the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) said on Wednesday it would not sign up to some aspects of the law.

Ashti Hawrami, minister of natural resources in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq told Reuters that annexes to the draft oil law that aim to wrest oilfields from regional governments and place them in the hands of a newly formed state-oil company were unconstitutional.

"The annexes as they are written now will not be accepted by the KRG," Hawrami said. "If I don't get the lion's share of fields (in the region) then it's a bad law. If the law dilutes regional control then it is unconstitutional."

"This law has to be in harmony with the constitution and if it isn't then it must be thrown in the trash," Hawrami said.

Shahristani said the Kurdish regional government should have made its objections clear before the draft law was approved by the cabinet in February, although he admitted the appendices had not been studied in detail before the law was passed.

"Nobody is totally happy with this draft but this has been agreed to. This is the draft that had been accepted," he said.

FOREIGN FIRMS

Shahristani said the draft law would be presented in a bundle that would include the oil and gas law, a law outlining the functions of the ministry of oil, another for Iraq National Oil Company and a fourth for oil revenue management.

The future role of foreign oil companies in Iraq has caused controversy but Shahristani said such concern was unfounded.

"The oil wealth of Iraq will remain under total control of Iraq. Under no circumstances will Iraq relinquish control over its natural resources," he said.

Former oil minister Thamir Ghadban said Iraq would have to look at different types of contracts with foreign oil companies to encourage investment, but added he did not think it needed to sign the sort of production sharing agreements the KRG had entered into with several foreign firms.

In February Iraq's cabinet endorsed the draft law, which is awaiting parliament's ratification, regulating how wealth from the country's vast oil reserves will be shared by its ethnic and sectarian groups.

The OPEC member has the world's third-largest proven oil reserves and needs billions of dollars to revive the sector after years of sanctions and war.

Shahristani said that model contracts would not be included in the draft law annexes. The federal council for oil and gas would develop those contracts later.

All major and minor oil companies around the world had shown interest in the future development of Iraq's oil and gas fields, he said. "We are talking about a huge potential here in terms of fields ready for development."

Shahristani said Iraq hoped to begin developing a large gas field in the western desert close to Syria in the second half of this year.

(Additional reporting by Summer Said)

Iraq oil law to go to parliament, Kurds wary - Yahoo! News UK

Originally Posted by jedi17

A Crude Look at Iraq’s Wealth



Henry Thompson



Iraq is a wealthy country and every Iraqi is a present value millionaire. Wealth in the world is shifting toward owners of crude oil making Iraqis wealthy.



Over the next two decades, total world energy consumption will almost double. Serious alternatives to oil energy are decades away requiring a doubling in the underlying price of crude oil. In the US, oil consumption is expanding, oil production is declining, and imports are climbing. Oil prices and the energy share of GDP will certainly increase over the next 50 years.



The energy bill will have to be paid with profits going to the owners of energy resources, not the oil companies. Owners of the oil reserves will profit as the price of oil rises due to increasing scarcity. Oil extraction and refining are very competitive with profits slightly higher than the average industry but with higher than average risk.



The price of a barrel of crude oil now ranges up to $70 with extraction cost in the Middle East $2. The owners of the oil get the difference. Extraction costs are rising but much slower than the price of oil.



The Arab Gulf has 65% of the world’s proven oil reserves. Iraq has 360 billion barrels of potential reserves, and 12% of the world proven reserves. Oil in the ground is like money in the bank making Iraqis wealthy.



Iraq can easily produce 6 million barrels of oil a day or 2 billion barrels per year out of its working oil fields. At $50 per barrel, that oil would sell for $100 billion. The population of Iraq is 24 million and that oil income translates to $4000 per capita per year.



For some crude conservative idea of the wealth if Iraq, suppose Iraq sells 1/4 of its potential reserves at an average price of $50 per barrel over the next 20 years. That would generate 90 billion x $50 = $4.5 trillion. If the population of Iraq grows to 30 million, that would be $150,000 per capita for 20 years, or $7,500 annual per capita income.



Estimated productive assets in the US according to the World Bank are $60,000 per capita, and in the world $5,000 per capita. If Iraq invests only 1/4 of its oil revenue for the next 20 years, it would match current US productive assets per capita.



The total value of Iraq potential oil reserves at an average profit of $75 per barrel over next 100 years would be 360 billion x $75 = $27 trillion or $900,000 per capita, making every Iraqi a millionaire. These calculations do not include natural gas revenue, lately about equal to oil revenue for producing fields.



In the entire Arab or Persian Gulf, proven oil reserves are 195 trillion barrels. Selling this at an average profit of $75 per barrel over the next 100 years would generate $15,000 trillion income. If half of that is invested, it would amount to $7,500 trillion or ¼ of the present total productive assets in world.



Iraq is a wealthy country.

It looks like an opinion article, however...What I have highlighted shows that Iraq could EASILY , VERY EASY , EASY, EASY support at least 1:1 RV.

I am no economist, so I am asking is: " Doesn't this article prove that a .05 RV is out of discussion? Even as a shakeout rate?

And related to the amount of an RV: The LoI - I understand - has the specific purpose of "announcing" the IMF about a currency change/jump. Wouldn't a RV at .05 shake the neighboring countries currencies? In the sense that they would have to devalue?

Can someone help me with these questions?