Thread: Iraq/Dinar News until 6/17/07 8:30 PM CST

Filling up your car in Baghdad these days means organising a minor expedition, with the capital in the grip of a new fuel crisis.


Long petrol queues are a common sight in Baghdad
Fuel shortages have become a fact of life for Iraqis since the US and British invasion, de****e their country's vast oil reserves.

But the situation has dramatically worsened in the past month.

The government blames the continuing violence and particularly recent attacks on major road bridges which have seriously disrupted traffic into the city.

Long queues of cars outside petrol stations, snaking round several blocks, have again become a regular sight.

Stories of people waiting all day in the blazing summer heat are common.

They are at serious risk too. As the lines of cars have grown, so too have the number of insurgent attacks.

There were two bombings aimed at petrol queues last weekend in which at least 10 people were killed and injured.

Even then they often have to drive away on the last few drops of petrol in their tanks, because the pumps are dry by the time their turn comes.

Detailed plans

Those who can afford it get round the problem by buying all their fuel from black market sellers.

But the price is high - more than double the government subsidised price of 400 dinars a litre, about 30 cents.

Cheap in comparison to Western prices, but not for poorly paid Iraqis.

To try to beat the petrol queues and stay safe, people now have to make detailed plans.

One of our office staff - I will call him Mahmoud - got up at 0330 recently, hoping to be first in line at a nearby state-owned petrol station.


Attacks on bridges are cutting the flow of petrol across Iraq
But the city is under curfew at that time and there is an Iraqi army checkpoint outside.

It would be dangerous to go there without having secured their permission befo*****d.

So the evening before, Mahmoud went to the checkpoint with a group of neighbours to clear their plans.

There was greater safety they decided in going as a group.

Next morning they all set off together. After identifying themselves to the soldiers they moved to the petrol station.

But other drivers had already got there. Many others.

Generators needed

Three hours later, the petrol station opened and one of its staff - whose sole job is to supervise the queue - walked down the line giving a number to each car.

The petrol lines have become very organised now.

"I was given number 131," Mahmoud told me with a resigned shrug. The number was written in green ink on his windscreen.

"When the man returned, he said the last car in the queue was number 900."

The queue went back through a whole neighbourhood of side streets.

Four hours after that, eight hours after he had woken up, Mahmoud finally reached the pumps and filled up.

But the attendants were rationing each car to 50 litres.


Petrol queues are a tempting target for insurgents
Anyone coming in with jerry cans was turned away, to prevent them selling the fuel on the black market.

But petrol stations are more sympathetic to the lines of women you often see queuing up with smaller plastic cans.

They need the fuel to keep their generators running to power appliances such as fridges and air conditioners.

Summer always brings a hike in fuel demand because with electricity supplies as patchy as ever, most Baghdadis still depend on generators.

"At night, you often can't sleep unless you have the air conditioning," says Mahmoud. "Especially the children."

Bridge attacks

Iraq's oil ministry admits there is a crisis.

But a spokesman said "there is little we can do" because of the attacks on bridges which have seriously disrupted fuel tanker traffic into the city".

Extra army checkpoints set up to prevent more such bombings have made things worse, with many fuel trucks not being allowed through.

There have also been more attacks on pipelines.

"It is too dangerous for our engineers to reach one of the damaged sections near Mahmudiya" - an area south of Baghdad that is a known insurgent hotbed - said the oil ministry spokesman.

With three more attacks on bridges leading into Baghdad in the past three days there is little chance the situation will improve.

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Battling Baghdad's petrol crisis

Originally Posted by breakeven

Looks like a slow grow to me...

Do you have a link or is this just your opinion?

Originally Posted by Lunar

Do you have a link or is this just your opinion?

It is my opinion like the rest of the multitude of opinions on this forum. I'm under the impression that forums are meant for opinions and differing viewpoints.

Originally Posted by RollsRoyce

Seems to be moving down . . . a single bit anyway . . .

Announcement No.(945)

D.G. of Foreign Exchange Control

The 945 daily currency auction was held in the Central Bank of Iraq day Wednesday 2007/6/13 so the results were as follows :

Details Notes
Number of banks 17 -----
Auction price selling dinar / US $ 1258 -----
Auction price buying dinar / US $ ----- -----
Amount sold at auction price (US $) 80.220.000 -----
Amount purchased at Auction price (US $) -----
Total offers for buying (US $) 80.220.000 -----
Total offers for selling (US $) ----- -----


Best . . .RR . . .

We must remember that the role of the CBI has been to maintain the stability of the dinar - for which they have been congratulated by the IMF.

All of the increase in dinar value that we have witnessed, is likely due to efforts to stabilize it against the falling value of the USD.

Every major currency in the world has gained value against USD.

If USD continues to drop on world markets, I would expect to see our dinar rates continue to increase.

At this point - its' all about stability.

Obviously what we are waiting for, is a bold move by the CBI to crush inflation and restore buying power through dedollarization - the return of dinar to its' normal value.

Originally Posted by breakeven

It is my opinion like the rest of the multitude of opinions on this forum. I'm under the impression that forums are meant for opinions and differing viewpoints.

Forums are for opinions and differing viewpoints in the proper thread...

Originally Posted by Lunar

Forums are for opinions and differing viewpoints in the proper thread...

Thanks for that Lunar. I'm sure others on this thread who have expressed their opinions like I have should be expecting similar such advice from you? It's nice to be the chosen one sometimes! The rv began a few months ago and is on target to reach the intended mark by the end of this year.

Number of banks 17 -----
Auction price selling dinar / US $ 1258 -----
Auction price buying dinar / US $ ----- -----
Amount sold at auction price (US $) 80.220.000 -----
Amount purchased at Auction price (US $) -----
Total offers for buying (US $) 80.220.000 -----
Total offers for selling (US $) ----- -----

Gooooooooooooooood Morning Rolclub


"The More They Take, The More We Make"
"Stay the Course, its the difference between Winners and whiners"



11.77 Trillion taken out and still the Party has not started


1. "1" Dinar rate change today, it was 1259, it is now 1258

2. A (net) worth of dinars, IQD - 100,916,760,000 pulled out of circulation today 6/13/07.

3. 17 banks participating today

4. 164th auction since the beginning of CBI's reval plan

5. 256 days into the CBI's reval plan. (Eight Months)

6. 11,776,805,898,000 dinars pulled from circulation !!

6A. Conservative ESTIMATE of Dinars still in circulation or controlled by the CBI 5,223,194,102,000

7. "0" Dinars back into circulation today

8. 219 dinar change since Oct 1st (baseline was 1477) 14.827% increase in value of the dinar since beginning of reval plan (Approximatly Oct 1st).

9. 2 point reduction in the rate so far this week. Was at 1260 at the end of last week, 1258 so far this week.

10. 2 point drop in the month of June. Ended at 1260 in May, now stands at 1258.

Discuss the economic and commercial cooperation between Iraq and China
- 13/06/2007Business and Economy-13/06/2007




برسBaghdad-file Press



.Deputy Prime Minister Sallam Zubai Ambassador Extraordinary belonging to the Republic of China in Baghdad Chen Xiaodong, as discussed during the meeting ways to develop and deepen the bilateral relations between the two friendly countries, in addition to issues of activating economic cooperation and trade and security.

و.And the Deputy Prime Minister confirmed the need to support the Iraqi people in the current stage and strengthen its ability to fight terrorism. د .With Chinese ambassador emphasized his country's position of his firm and supportive of the Iraqi people to go beyond their current predicament, stating his confidence in the possibility of the development of the traditional relations between the two countries and development in all fields

بØ*Ø« التعاون الاقتصادي والتجاري بين العراق والصين

The Ministry of Planning : the establishment of consultative status to government contracts
6/2007Business and Economy-12/06/2007


برسKarbala - file Press

.Al Agency (File Press) that the Ministry of Planning and Development Cooperation announced the formation of consultative status to contract government. .This came during a formal letter has been circulated by the ministry to all ministries and departments, including the city of Karbala and the Kurdistan region.

رة.The center includes a select group of consultants and experts, Iraqi and international individuals and companies specialized in the fields of contracts and supplies, procurement and application instructions for the implementation of the law on government contracts (1) of 2007 issued by the ministry.

.A source in the ministry said that the center aims to provide technical and legal assistance to all departments and divisions in the labor contracts and the institutions of the State which is implementing the general budget of the government and in particular the investment budget and budget development regions and accelerate reconstruction and also includes provision of technical and legal advice in the area of public contracts in all its forms such as contracts and construction contracts processing and service contracts to all government departments. .The Center also monitored the contracts by government departments and divisions of public contracts and overcome the difficulties and obstacles that stand legal means in the implementation of the investment program with high efficiency, the ministry hopes that through this support and assistance to accelerate the implementation of the budget and strengthen the capacities of government institutions and higher levels of performance there.





وزارة التخطيط: تأسيس مركز استشاري للتعاقدات الØ*كومية

Originally Posted by breakeven

Thanks for that Lunar. I'm sure others on this thread who have expressed their opinions like I have should be expecting similar such advice from you? It's nice to be the chosen one sometimes! The rv began a few months ago and is on target to reach the intended mark by the end of this year.

Evidently the mods don't intend to enforce the issue that comments and discussions are to be taken to a separate thread.
Please disregard my previous comment.