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

Discuss the economic and commercial cooperation between Iraq and China

Source : file Press-14/06/2007

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.

And the Deputy Prime Minister confirmed the need to support the Iraqi people in the current stage and strengthen its ability to fight terrorism. 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.

Conclusion 58 contracts with a number of ministries and public corporations

Source : file Press-14/06/2007

Concluded Systems Company, a subsidiary of the Ministry of Industry and Minerals, 58 contracts with the ministries of oil and electricity, sports and youth, as well as companies affiliated to the Ministry of Industry and Minerals, which included those contracts maintenance work and memorial and processing systems.

Such contracts, which included 10 with the Ministry of Oil included the design and processing systems and maintenance work and control and surveillance, with included four decades with the Ministry of Electricity Works Internet and intranet systems, and 14 contracts with other ministries. in addition to the 30 contracts with companies affiliated to the Ministry of Industry and Minerals, and all of the contracts under the direct and implementation.

And recall that Systems Company was founded in 1996 and is specialized solutions provide integrated industrial systems in the fields of commerce, and are working in various areas of advanced technology, including computers, and control and communications systems in the fields of industry, electricity, oil and gas.

Iraq to set aside oil money for refugees

14 June 2007 (Azzaman)

The Foreign Ministry is considering a proposal to allocate part of the country’s oil revenues for Iraqi refugees in neighboring countries.

Millions of Iraqis have fled abroad, mainly to Jordan and Syria, and many of them live in squalor conditions.

Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Mohammed Hmoud said efforts were exerted to solve the problems Iraqi refugees face.

“But the problem is so big that we have already started talking to the host countries on ways to alleviate their (refugees’) suffering.

“In some countries the numbers are in millions and Iraqi embassies are in no position to deal with the problem,” he said.

He said the parliament would soon vote on a proposal under which three percent of Iraqi oil revenues will be allocated to the host countries, especially Syria and Jordan.

Iraqi refugees now find it difficult to obtain documents, particularly passports.

Hmoud said his ministry has asked both countries to officially extend the stay of Iraqi refugees until conditions are suitable for their return home.

KNA holds special session on constitutional amendments

Arbil, 14 June 2007 (Voices of Iraq)

Iraq's Kurdistan National Assembly (KNA) held a special session on Wednesday to discuss possible amendments to the Iraqi constitution, KNA member Khaman Zarar said.

"Today's session is designed to discuss possible amendments to the permanent Iraqi constitution," Zarar told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).

"Any amendment to the constitution should be in conformity with articles 142 and 143, which means with the approval of two thirds of assembly members," Speaker Adnan al-Mufti said in his opening speech to the assembly.

Deputy Speaker Kamal Kirkuki said earlier in late May that Kurds oppose any constitutional amendment that jeopardizes Iraqi federalism or plurality.

A number of Iraqi parliamentary committees comprising members of the Kurdistan Alliance and Kurdish experts and spec ialists were formed last month to follow up issues of primary concern to Iraq's Kurdistan region, including the oil law and article 140 of the Iraqi constitution on the situation in Kirkuk.

The oil and gas law is one of the most controversial issues on the Iraqi political scene. While Sunnis have reservations about the law, Kurds' main concerns are about the relations between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the central government in Baghdad.

Key political work still stalled in Iraq

Published: June 14, 2007 at 5:35 PM

WASHINGTON, June 14 (UPI) -- The Iraqi government has made only small steps on three key areas of legislation U.S. officials believe are required for national reconciliation.
That is the conclusion of the Pentagon's quarterly report to Congress, "Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq."

"Reaching consensus among a wide array of political factions with competing agendas has proven difficult, and efforts to pass this legislation are progressing more slowly than desired," states the report delivered to Congress on Wednesday.

The first area of concern is a national hydrocarbon law -- that is, a fair division of proceeds from Iraq's vast oil and natural gas reserves. Without it foreign oil companies, needed to invest billions to get the infrastructure functioning, will not have the legal framework to begin work.

The Council of Ministers approved a draft framework in February, but it has not been presented to parliament for action and does not have a formula for revenue sharing or determine who will control the northern and southern oil fields.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has expressed support for a draft law to soften the rules prohibiting former Baath Party members from holding government jobs, but it remains extremely controversial.

"Reforms could be delayed by months, and high-profile attacks by Sunni insurgents and extremists could continue to exacerbate Shiite fears of a Baathist resurgence," the report states.

Indeed, insurgents attacked the treasured Shiite Golden Mosque in Samarra on Wednesday for the second time in 18 months. The February 2006 attack set off a chain reaction of sectarian violence across the country.

The third key area where progress is sputtering is passing a provincial election law.

United Press International - Security & Terrorism - Briefing

Analysis: U.S. ignorant on Iraq oil law

Published: June 14, 2007 at 6:51 PM

WASHINGTON, June 14 (UPI) -- A military leader fresh from Iraq is the latest U.S. government official to push a common but false claim that the controversial draft oil law will lead to a just division of the proceeds from oil sales and pave the way for reconciliation in the war-torn nation.
Lt. Gen. Martin Dempsey, former commander of the Multinational Security Transition Command-Iraq, forwarded claims made by the Bush administration and Congress that if Iraq passes an oil law, the fighting factions there will come together because revenue from oil sales will be distributed to all.

The oil law (also known as the hydrocarbons law), however, does no such thing. A separate revenue-sharing law would decide how the oil revenue is spread around the country. It is currently being negotiated, though far behind the hydrocarbons law in the Iraqi legislative process.

Dempsey, who just returned from his in-Iraq duties, told reporters at a Pentagon briefing Wednesday, "There's an interim step toward reconciliation that might better be described as accommodation," finding "ways to become dependent on each other."

The hydrocarbons law is one way, he said, "where you equitably distribute the resources of the nation, thereby encouraging these three groups to depend on each other for some common commodity."

Only a small portion of the law mentions revenue, and explicitly states that, according to the Iraqi Constitution, a separate "federal revenue law" is required to dictate how the revenue is spent.

President Bush, during remarks with visiting Iraqi President Jalal Talabani on May 21, said, "We're working very hard, for example, on getting an oil law with an oil revenue-sharing code that will help unite the country."

Such a law was included in Bush's "benchmarks for reconciliation" in Iraq.

Other U.S. officials, including the vice president during a visit to Baghdad, have expressed U.S. desires for Iraq to pass an oil law, the one with non-existent influence on the oil revenue.

Members of Congress as well push the "oil law" as important, also not distinguishing it from revenue assumptions.

"Iraqi progress on an oil law is good news and an important step forward," Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., said in a Feb. 27 statement after Iraqi negotiators initially approved the hydrocarbons law. "Fair-sharing of Iraq's oil revenue is key to a sustainable political solution, but an oil law by itself will not end the sectarian warfare in Iraq," added Biden, who is in favor of breaking Iraq into Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish states.

The Democratic-led Congress, des pite calls from the more progressive members, enshrined the oil law benchmark for the Iraqi government in the Iraq war-spending bill approved last month:

"Enacting and implementing legislation to ensure the equitable distribution of hydrocarbon resources of the people of Iraq without regard to the sect or ethnicity of recipients, and enacting and implementing legislation to ensure that the energy resources of Iraq benefit Sunni Arabs, Shia Arabs, Kurds, and other Iraqi citizens in an equitable manner."

Iraq oil sales made up more than 93 percent of its federal budget last year. Iraq sells about 1.6 million barrels per day.

The oil law would set guidelines for how Iraq's vast 115 billion barrels of proven reserves -- third-largest in the world -- are developed. It would determine the role of the central, regional and provincial governments and the extent of foreign companies' access to Iraq's oil, most of which isn't being pumped (and a lot more is considered to be undiscovered).

"The draft hydrocarbons framework law does not define specific terms for the distribution of Iraq's oil revenue," Christopher Blanchard, Middle East policy analyst for the Congressional Research Service, told United Press International. "The law would require Iraq's Council of Ministers to submit a separate federal revenue law to regulate a central Oil Revenue Fund and ensure the fair distribution of oil revenue."

The revenue law is the legislation that would dictate how and to whom the money is distributed.

"The hydrocarbons framework law is important," Blanchard said, "but if equitable oil revenue sharing is a key benchmark for political reconciliation and progress in Iraq, then the ongoing discussions among Iraqis about the terms of the draft revenue law deserve more attention."

As an occupying power in a country rocked by instability after more than four years of war, the misguided pressure on the oil law from the U.S. government actors is likely to work against their stated aims -- ensuring Iraqis reap the benefits from their oil.

United Press International - Energy - Analysis

OPEC President says supplies are adequate in oil markets

(Voice of Iraq) - 14-06-2007

Abu Dhabi (Reuters) - The president of OPEC Mohamed Bin Al-Hameli Daan on Wednesday that the supply of crude to world markets sufficiently attributed rising oil prices to political tensions and refining bottlenecks in the industry.

An Al-Hameli told reporters in Abu Dhabi, "supplies in the oil market adequately."

His statements came after the International Energy Agency on Tuesday that the world needs more oil from OPEC to meet stronger demand than expected.

She Agency, which provides advice on energy and twenty six industrialized countries weight behind appeals consuming countries of OPEC to pump more oil.

But officials from OPEC pumped more than a third of the world's oil production Ihounon fears of consumers and say they sow enough to meet demand in the world market, which amounts to 86.1 million barrels a day. The organization last year to cut production by 1.7 million barrels a day.

He said Al-Hameli, who is also the oil minister of the United Arab Emirates "the rise in oil prices (due) to the political tensions in some areas of production and speculation in the market and bottlenecks in refineries in consuming countries."

He reiterated Al-Hameli saying that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) want the stability of the market "for the benefit of producers and consumers."

The Brent crude in London, which is now more reflective of the global market of crude measurement American rose to its highest level in nine months when it exceeded 71 dollars a barrel in the May 24 May and was traded Wednesday without 69 dollars.

The higher prices amid continued tension between the United States and Iran on its nuclear plans and attacks on oil installations militants in Nigeria and disrupted refineries American flights with the start of the summer season, which will see the peak demand for gasoline.

The Al-Hameli concern of his country possessing nuclear-energy program within the framework of the Arab Gulf states to meet rapidly growing demand for electricity.

Raise the Arab Gulf States plans to start a nuclear program fears of atomic arms with Iran.


Translated version of http://sotaliraq.com/

Originally Posted by wellwishes

That's 3 trillion barrels of oil....Well above SA's total. If true Iraq has the worlds largest oil reserves.

thats what the boots guarding the surveyors said 3 years ago.

http://www.rolclub.com/215635-post314.html 3,111 billion barrels of oil,

Originally Posted by Howard Nomoney

I think it's a typo. Check out this report.



Iraq Development Program - Basrah contains huge oil wealth


Oil researcher, Ahmad Al-Husseini, said that geological studies "in Iraq showed that there are about 530 geological complexes of good prospects for oil; about 115 sites have been drilled so far with reserves estimated at about 111.3 billion barrels of oil, which leaves 415 locations requiring exploration."


He pointed out, "reserves in the 415 sites unexplored for various reasons are estimated at over 215 billion barrels." He believed that regions and provinces rich in oil "will include in future nearly two thirds of Iraq."

Al-Husseini pointed out, in a symposium organized by the University of Babylon on the oil and gas law and attended by oil and economy experts, that oil reserves in Iraq "are parallel to those discovered in Saudi Arabia which is today the top producer of oil in the world."

A proposal to replace the dissolved body industrialization Iraq reconstruction

15/06/07

The Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki grant immediate salary pension for officers from the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and above who do not wish to return to the Iraqi army, and without exception, as provided by the Commission on Human army and the dissolved entities proposing to the government to replace the dissolved body manufacturing reconstruction of Iraq.
This announcement at a press conference yesterday, attended by (morning), Chairman of the Human army and the dissolved entities emanating from the Supreme national reconciliation Faleh ho****ality, pointing out that the Prime Minister had made a number of decisions after meeting with departments concerned, the granting of an immediate salary pension to all officers who do not wish to return to the army with the rank and above and the return of all former army officers from the rank of captain or below who wish to return to the new army.
He added ho****ality during the conference, which was attended by Director General of the Department of Veterans Affairs in the Ministry of Defense and general manager of the retirement and adviser to the Defense Minister General Thamer Sultan that the competent departments, for its part, members of the former army inventory to promote their own pensions transactions, as well as preparing statistical forms for the officers and employees of the former army who did not join the new army by the Commission to identify the problems that preclude joining in the ranks of the army. He explained that the Committee and distributed 350 thousand new form between the army and employees of the dissolved entities through special centers to receive emergency grants, calling this segment to expedite the filling of forms in order to resolve this issue as soon as possible.
He added that the number of employees of these entities who receive emergency grants currently stands at 218 thousand associate after they have more than 350 thousand in the wake of the fall of the former regime in 2003. This decline in the number was the result of absorbing large numbers of those between the Ministries of Defense, Interior and the protection of vital installations and other miscellaneous jobs, have been resolved with the disabled who receive these grants after referral to the Assembly for receiving retirement benefits, stressing that the persons currently granting emergency files will be resolved between repatriation and referral service to retire on par with their peers according to the new retirement law which hopefully done soon.
And on the promotion of transactions officers who had left the country, his ho****ality : that e-mail has been allocated in this regard they can send the forms in which power, or their representatives, adding that the Commission received during the past more than (40) A form of the officers living outside the country. The outpouring army officers who have joined the armed groups to abandon their arms and return to either the army or promote their dealings pensions. He called the House ho****ality expedite the review of the law dismissed as part of a reconciliation, saying : the implications of these amendments would abide by the Commission, calling on the Council to develop the political process through the development of legislative work.
The detection team Thamer Sultan adviser to the minister of defense of the proposal has been submitted to the Prime Minister replacement MIC gotten the reconstruction of Iraq and to take advantage of tables affiliates in the reconstruction of the country.
Sultan said that consideration has been given to the issue of manufacturing firms operating before the fall of the military regime of practical competence, which has been forwarded a number of its affiliates to the Ministry of Science, Technology and the other to the Ministry of Construction and Housing. He added that only 30 companies from manufacturing firms, which have been distributed Form No. (2) between its affiliate for the return of those willing to contribute to the reconstruction of the country. Meanwhile, the Major General Nabil Khalil Said, director-general of the Veterans Affairs in the Ministry of Defense during the conference, as well as all of invisible waves emergency payments to the program. He quoted Prime Minister reiterated the lifting transactions retirement from the Veterans Affairs Department to retirement without directly sent to the dissolved entities. For his part Mallees Service Retirement renewed public had been completed more than seven thousand treatment of retirement to employees of the former Iraqi army.
He renewed during the conference that there pension transactions completed pending review the owners to give them the identity of retirement, pointing out that the Service is currently auditing transactions retirement of the security organs to be disbursed pension to them in the coming weeks.