Thread: Archive Latest News - Think Tank - 16/08/07 - 03/11/07

INTERVIEW: Iraq To Boost Output By 500,000 B/D By '10 - Oil Min

Iraq is close to hiring five major oil companies to help increase crude output by 500,000 barrels a day by the end of 2009, the country's Oil Minister Hussein Al-Shahristani said late Wednesday.

"They would help us with redevelopment plans and they would choose for us the best machinery to do so, while Iraqi technicians would implement these plans," al-Shahristani told Dow Jones Newswires in an exclusive interview in Amman, Jordan.

The contracts, known as technical service agreements, or TSAs, will help increase output in six oil fields: Rumeila South, Rumeila North, Zubair, Subba/ Luhais and Missan in southern Iraq and Kirkuk, al-Shahristani said.

Iraq is currently producing around 2.2 million barrels a day, mostly from these oil fields.

The minister declined to name the companies involved in the talks although people close to the matter have said Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB.LN) is being considered.

Earlier this year, a senior Iraqi oil official said Shell had submitted a plans to the Iraqi oil ministry to redevelop Missan in southern Iraq. Gas To Syria
Iraq has also agreed to supply Syria with gas from an Iraqi Western Desert field, Akkaz, near the two countries' border. "We have agreed with the Syrians to supply them with 50 million cubic meters a day of gas from Akkaz," al- Shahristani said.

Syria will build a gas pipeline in its own territory, he said, adding that Iraq's State Company for Oil Projects, or SCOP, would implement the 45-kilometer Iraqi portion of the line.

First gas may be pumped as early as in one or two years' time, he added.
Al-Shahristani said the ministry plans to invite foreign companies to develop the Akkas field, which is expected to produce up to 500 million cubic meters a day of gas, which could be pumped to Europe via a Jordan-Egypt-Syrian gas pipeline.

Kirkuk Contract.

The minister also said that the State Oil Marketing Organization, or SOMO, is negotiating with a Turkish company to sign a term contract to sell it Kirkuk crude.

The Turkish company, thought to be Tupras, would get limited quantities of Kirkuk crude while the rest would be sold through auctions, al-Shahristani said.

SOMO has been selling Kirkuk crude through auctions because the country couldn't guarantee sustainable exports from its northern oil fields due to frequent incidents of sabotage against the export pipeline following the U.S.- led war in 2003.

Before the U.S. invasion, Iraq used to export around 800,000 barrels a day from the north via the Turkish port of Ceyhan.

Iraq sells the bulk of its crude oil from southern oil fields, exporting around 1.6 million barrels a day.

Wednesday, SOMO issued the sixth tender in two months, selling 6 million barrels a day of Kirkuk crude. It sold 3.45 million a day of the same crude in its fifth tender sale announced Oct. 22.

However, the northern export pipeline has frequently been shut down due to persistent acts of sabotage.

Al-Shahristani said that new measures had been enforced to protect the northern export pipeline.

Iraq's revenues from oil sales from southern and northern oil fields are expected to reach some $36 billion in 2007, an increase of $5 billion over the country's budget expectation, he said.


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Opinion Piece - This is a really really good read written and published today by a very credible Economic Professor


The Empty Chair at the Iraq Hearings

Effective foreign policy requires paying close attention to economics, not just security and politics. Policy often falters in practice because the economic or financial aspect is overlooked.

Recall the hearings on Capitol Hill in September concerning progress in Iraq. Testifying on security issues was Gen. David Petraeus, offering his expertise on counterinsurgency warfare in theory and in practice. Next to him was Ambassador Ryan Crocker, able to answer virtually any question, no matter how detailed, on the political machinations within Iraq. And next to them was the seasoned expert on economic issues in Iraq.

Oops. Actually, no one was next to them. An empty chair, perhaps. But had an expert been at the witness table, the testimony might have gone. . . .
Empty Chair: Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for inviting me to testify on economic issues in Iraq. I ask that my written testimony be entered in the record. I will give just the highlights here. We have been working with Iraqi economic officials, including the governor of the Central Bank of Iraq. He has a very tough job conducting monetary policy, perhaps tougher than the chairman of the Federal Reserve Board has here in the United States, even with our current market turmoil. I am happy to report that the central bank has implemented the recommendations of the Baker-Hamilton commission in this area. It has raised the interest rate all the way to 20 percent to control inflation, and through such actions the inflation rate has come down sharply. The new Iraqi dinar, which was introduced in 2003, has proved popular and has appreciated nicely in the past year. The Central Bank of Iraq now has $21 billion in reserves, many times more than it had just after Saddam Hussein stole a billion dollars from its vaults in March 2003. This summer the Baghdad Stock Exchange opened to foreign investors, rose 85 percent in July and held its own in August. As the closely watched Grant's Interest Rate Observer noted Sept. 7, "Iraq has turned into a capital magnet. . . . Money is sometimes misinformed, but it is never insincere. Something is afoot in Iraq." So there are measurable signs of economic and financial progress.

Chairman: Just this summer guards stole $282 million from a private bank in Baghdad. I am referring to news reports on July 11. If the financial sphere is doing as well as you claim, could you tell me how such an astonishingly large heist -- a hundred times greater than the famous Brink's robbery -- could have happened?

Empty Chair: Well, Mr. Chairman, those newspaper stories were in error.
The actual amount was 282 million dinars, not dollars. Currently, a dinar is worth less than one-tenth of a penny, so the robbery was only half of 1 percent of the size of the Brink's robbery.

When the story broke, NBC asked if I would explain it on the nightly news. But when they discovered the actual size of the robbery, they canceled my appearance, saying it was no longer newsworthy. I agreed.

Committee Member: Certainly things can't be going as well financially as you claim. We hear very little about it.

Empty Chair: Occasionally there are stories. Last December, for example, Newsweek reported that the Iraqi economy was the "mother of all surprises." But that story did not get in the echo chamber like the robbery this summer.

Committee Member: So there is nothing more to do in terms of economics?

Empty Chair: On the contrary, there is much more that we and the Iraqis should be doing. I appreciate the opportunity to testify today on the importance of this third pillar of our policy.

My strong recommendation is: As soon as Gen. Petraeus and his coalition forces secure an area -- a neighborhood or a town -- we should immediately focus as best we can on the economic part of our mission. Help businesses reopen and hire people, especially young people who might otherwise join the enemy.

Establish organizations of entrepreneurs to tell us and the Iraqi government what they need. Build industrial enclaves if necessary. Work with Iraqis to provide security for shipments of products and key raw materials for manufacturing or agriculture.

You have heard much about the need to secure an area before significant political progress can be made; the same is true for economic progress. But economics is quicker than politics. We should move in economically even before our teams start helping on political reconciliation. If the environment is secure, entrepreneurs -- both Shiite and Sunni -- can create jobs much more quickly than politicos can reach agreement, let alone pass legislation. Job creation, the economic integration of communities and the taste of prosperity will accelerate political reconciliation and the achievement of our ultimate objective in Iraq.


The writer, an economics professor at Stanford and senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, was Treasury undersecretary for international affairs from 2001 to 2005.

washingtonpost.com - nation, world, technology and Washington area news and headlines

Analysis: U.S. OK's Saddam law oil deals

The U.S. State Department says an oil law implemented under Saddam Hussein is good enough for Iraq’s national government to sign oil deals, though it would prefer a new national law -- mired in controversy and far from approved -- to be used instead.

The new position is a shift for the U.S. government, or at least a nuance in its stance, which has pressed hard for a new hydrocarbons legal regime and condemned deals signed between a regional government and private firms -- especially when it’s an American company.

“We would prefer these laws to be passed before any deals are signed,” Deputy Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs Lawrence Butler told United Press International. “However, in the absence of passage of the hydrocarbon law, Iraq as a sovereign state can continue to use the Saddam-era laws to manage the sector in the meantime.”

It’s not clear what effect the U.S. stance will have on the international oil industry, salivating at the prospect of entering the third-largest oil reserves in the world, as Iraq’s Oil Ministry says it will not wait forever for a new law before signing deals.

Iraq is underexplored and experts predict the country's reserve totals could be twice as much as the 115 billion barrels that have already been found.

Iraq’s Kurds, who control territory covering less than 1 percent of Iraq’s proven reserves, are signing oil deals to explore and develop an oil sector of their own, which Washington sees as exacerbating the already weighty wedge in Iraqi national politics.

“We have many opportunities to excite you,” KRG Natural Resources Minister Ashti Hawrami told UPI recently when asked what the "sales pitch" is to international oil firms. “And if you don’t come forward now, you will lose.”

India’s Reliance Industries will apparently be the latest to sign a production-sharing contract with the Kurdistan Regional Government. A company official confirmed the two are in end-stage talks for two exploration blocks, the global energy information firm Platts reports.

The KRG has signed nine deals since the fall of Saddam, most of which have been called “illegal” by Baghdad, which considers the Kurds’ unilateral moves unconstitutional.

Security is a major factor, but top officials from international oil companies told UPI on condition of anonymity they’re waiting for a law detailing their rights as investors before entering the Iraqi oil scene.

The sector is nationalized now and many Iraqis -- including the stronger workers’ unions -- fear opening it up to international investors will squander their resources.

The most recent draft of the hydrocarbons framework law, which is stuck in Parliament’s Energy Committee, would ease some restrictions. The production-sharing contracts, however, are controversial. The darling deals of the international oil industry, PSCs allow companies to recover their total cost for exploration and development, and then split oil proceeds after that; the percentage of that split is what drives Iraqi concerns. The company can include the reserves on its books, bolstering its value.

The law is also held up by disagreements between the KRG and Baghdad over how decentralized control over the oil fields and exploration blocks will be.

Separate laws governing revenue sharing, the Ministry of Oil and the Iraqi National Oil Co. round out the hydrocarbons package but are further behind than the oil law.

Iraqi Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani told potential investors at an Iraq oil conference held in Dubai nearly two months ago there is no “legislative vacuum” in Iraq. He said if there is no national oil law, the ministry would begin implementing its strategic plan for Iraq’s oil and gas reserves using the Saddam law.

The KRG passed its own oil law in August, which the region says the 2005 Constitution allows for, another dig at the slow pace of the national oil law.

Since passing the regional oil law it signed three production-sharing contracts: Heritage Energy Middle East Ltd., a subsidiary of the Canadian company Heritage Oil and Gas, and Perenco Kurdistan Ltd., a subsidiary of Perenco S.A. of France, earlier this month; Dallas-based Hunt Oil Corp. on Sept. 8.

The Hunt deal row spread to Washington, as the State Department became vocal and members of Congress raised red flags.

Prominent congressional committee chairmen have sent letters of query to the State Department, White House and Hunt Oil, asking what the government knew about the deal and what it told Hunt before it signed.

President Bush said he “knew nothing” but is concerned if it “undermines” national law efforts.

The State Department said it tells companies that approach it that such deals widen the gap between the federal government and the KRG, delaying resolution on a national package of laws governing the hydrocarbons sector.

Hunt Chief Executive Officer Ray Hunt told The Wall Street Journal there were no conversations with the U.S. government prior to signing the deal. The company admitted to the meeting after being confronted with internal State Department documents obtained by UPI that revealed a meeting in Irbil, the KRG capital. According to the document, the department gave Hunt its “do not sign” talking points.

Aside from monkey-wrenching U.S. plans to prop up a strong and stable central government, the department says companies signing deals with the region without a national law will be on shaky legal grounds.

“We continue to advise companies from outside of Iraq that they incur significant political and legal risk in signing any contracts with any party inside of Iraq before a national law package is passed by the Iraq Parliament,” the State Department’s Butler, who oversees Iraq policy, told a U.S.-Arab policymakers conference last week.

It appears most of the international oil community is listening to the State Department, especially the majors, fearing a deal with the KRG will blacklist them from the rest of Iraq’s black-gold bounty.

“We continue to encourage Iraq’s political leaders to agree on the passage of a national hydrocarbon law and companion legislation,” Butler told UPI. Washington says such a law will ease tensions and lead to reconciliation, and has been pushing the law and Iraqi legislators behind the scenes for years.

But if Baghdad joins the KRG in signing oil deals without a nationally approved strategy for the oil sector -- regardless of each government’s claim the Constitution allows it -- and international oil companies rush in, it could cause chaos in the Iraqi oil sector, exacerbating an already tense political standoff.

International Security - Energy - Analysis - UPI.com

The Turkey Kurdistan Issue

Recently I was invited to an evening barbeque high in the surrounding mountains of Suleymaniya, one of the three largest cities in the North of Iraq. In the cool of the evening, I met Ahmed, a young man in his thirties who had been in England for the past five years and had returned to help his father build a new house. He spoke perfect English and was clearly an intelligent young man. I took the opportunity to quiz him on a number of current issues. Troop withdrawals by the coalition forces was high on the agenda, so I asked him who he thought posed the greatest threat to stability in the north. Without hesitation, and to my initial surprise, he said, ‘Turkey, never trust Turkey’.

Deep seated mistrust.

On reflection, of course, I realised that this mistrust was well founded. Eastern Turkey is home to at least 12 million Kurds who until 2002 were treated abominably. At that point Turkey began to tidy up on human rights to support its application to join the European Union. Kurds are now technically allowed to use their own language and in most respects have equality with other Turks but discrimination dies hard.

A long standing problem

What the UK media fails to explain is why the Kurds are such a problem to the governments of Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria all of whom have Kurdish enclaves. If you were to draw a line in the atlas around the perimeter of these Kurdish areas you would create a nation state of Kurdistan. This is what the Kurds have long hoped and fought for, for decades. When I first went to what is now officially Iraqi Kurdistan in 2002 I smuggled out a specially published map of that nation state knowing that if it was found in my possession as I travelled back through Syria it would be confiscated.

Back to the Ottoman Empire

As BBC Newsnight accurately reported a few days ago, the Kurds are the largest displaced people group in the world. There are an estimated 25 million in the four Middle Eastern countries and a further two million spread across Europe and North America. To understand how this came about you need to look back to the break up of the Ottoman Empire at the end of the First World War. The whole of the Middle East went into the melting pot. The Treaty of Versailles in 1917 saw Britain and France effectively take control of the region through a series of mandates. These were designed to be short-lived until nation states were in a position to govern themselves. In 1920 at the Treaty of Sevres, which formally dissolved the Ottoman Empire, the proposal to create an autonomous Kurdish region was abandoned after strong objections led by Attaturk, the founding father of modern Turkey, and supported by Churchill, British Prime Minister at that time.

The irony

The Kurds have never accepted this Treaty. In each of the four countries of the Middle East they have successfully maintained their distinctive culture and language, continuing the struggle for autonomy. The current President of Iraq, Jalal Talabani, and the President of Iraqi Kurdistan, Ma’sud Barzani, have both been freedom fighters in this struggle. Both these men, at times archenemies, have proved them themselves skilful pragmatists for the sake of their cause. They resolved their differences and dropped their objective of a united Kurdistan as soon as it became clear that Iraqi Kurdistan might well become independent.

Oil, oil, oil!

It almost goes without saying that the agenda behind all the political decisions since the First World War have centred around Iraq’s vast oil resources. As far back as 1925 the League of Nations agreed that the Kurdish region of Mosul, which includes the city of Kirkuk, reputed to sit on the second largest oil field in the world, should be part of Iraq and not Turkey. At that time this conveniently kept Iraq’s oil in British hands. More recently, when the protected region for the Kurds was set up in 1991, after the first Gulf War, Saddam Hussein was successful in keeping control of this Kurdish region and the oil revenue that it produced. Once in control he set about ‘Arabising’ the city creating an exodus of Kurds who fled to the protected area in the north and ended up in UN camps for displaced people if they were lucky, or in very bad accommodation if they were not.

The current crisis

There is no doubt about the existence of a Kurdish guerrilla group (PKK) operating out of the mountainous border region between Turkey and Iraqi Kurdistan. Neither is there any doubt about its tactics and objective. However, why should Turkey suddenly be making such an issue of the matter? This group has been operating since the 1980’s. Firstly, it must be a source of embarrassment to Talabani and Bazani that this organisation is continuing to operate. At one time they would have been totally sympathetic to the PKK’s cause. Secondly, Turkey has always been suspicious of an emerging autonomous Kurdish region in Iraq. During the period 1991 to 2003, when the Iraqi Kurds were protected by the no fly zone, they opened and closed their border with Iraq at a whim; seemingly for no reason other than to frustrate the movement of Kurds in and out of Iraq. They are, of course, understandably afraid that, should Iraqi Kurdistan become too independent and politically influential, their own Kurdish population will agitate for greater autonomy – exactly what the PKK claim to be fighting for.

Oil again

I cannot help but feel there is a third and may be even bigger reason. Under the present Iraqi Constitution a referendum has to be held in Kirkuk so that the people can decide whether or not they wish to become part of Iraqi Kurdistan. Mosul and Kirkuk are traditionally Kurdish but bearing in mind the recent history of these places, who knows the outcome of such a referendum? My friend Ahmed was of the view that a referendum, already postponed, will never take place because it is too sensitive an issue. Whoever controls Kirkuk controls its oil. Currently Turkey relies heavily on oil from this region. What if Kirkuk fell into the hands of a Kurdish government?

What of the future

There is no doubt that any attack by Turkish forces inside Iraq could destabilise Iraqi Kurdistan. With Western protection from Saddam Hussein since 1991, the Kurds have been able to lay the foundation for a stable society. Democracy in the north may not be perfect but it has helped to ensure that the area is the most secure in the whole of Iraq. So will Turkey heed the warnings of the west? America needs its Turkish bases. Turkey needs Iraqi oil. Turkey is keen to gain entry to the European Union but not all members are so keen to have them. Is it prepared to jeopardise its ambition? Is the PKK only an excuse, and will Turkey go all the way to Kirkuk? There are many imponderables, we can only hope and pray that sanity prevails.

Kurdishaspect.com - By Mirza Bukhari

http://www.kurdishaspect.com/doc103107MB.html

Soaring Oil climbs Past $96 Mark

Oil prices have passed the $96-a-barrel mark after figures on Wednesday showed a surprise fall in US crude reserves.


US light crude rose as high as $96.24 before falling back to $93.16. Brent crude was trading at $89.31 in London.

Analysts said that crude probably would break through $100 a barrel this year, de****e Thursday's cooling of prices.

The long-term trend is underpinned by a number of factors including strong demand from developing nations and a weak US dollar, they said.
There are also concerns about geopolitical issues such as a clash between the US and Iran, and an escalation of hostilities between Turkey and rebel Kurdish fighters based in the northern areas of Iraq.

The problem facing oil markets and analysts is that all of the factors are combining to create a high level of uncertainty in the market, and this, in turn, is driving prices higher.

Sell signs

Oil prices surged on Wednesday after a report that showed domestic US crude stocks fell by 3.9 million barrels last week, worrying analysts who had forecast an increase of 100,000 barrels.

The US is the world's biggest energy consumer and the state of its inventories is a key concern for market watchers.

"We are stepping into an unknown area," said Ken Hasegawa, a broker at Fimat Japan, said of the latest price spike.

"Nobody wants to sell, given the fear of a further rise."

At the same time, oil prices have risen as a weaker US dollar made oil, which is priced in dollars, cheaper to buy outside of the US.

The dollar hit its weakest levels against the pound since 1981 on Wednesday.

At the same time, oil investors have been casting a nervous eye on Turkey's threats to carry out a major military incursion into northern Iraq to attack Kurdish rebels.

In past months, there have also been concerns about the stop-start violence in Nigeria's main oil producing region, the international community's unresolved nuclear dispute with Iran and heating supplies for the US winter.

Mexico was forced to halt one-fifth of oil production at the start of the week by a tropical storm hitting its Caribbean coast, sparking further supply fears, but it has now resumed full production.

Price fixing?

Oil producers' body Opec continues to be criticised for not doing enough to restrain prices de****e agreeing to lift daily output by 500,000 barrels, an increase which came into effect on Thursday.

A senior Opec official said the organisation was not to "blame" for the price rises and insisted there was no shortage of capacity in the market.

"We never fix oil prices," said Abdullah al-Attiyah, Qatar's energy minister.

"It is market driven and it is out of control."

PUKmedia :: English - Soaring Oil climbs Past $96 Mark

Bush, Erdogan Split Over Kurds' Power in Oil-Rich Northern Iraq

Behind the tension between President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan over Turkish retaliation against cross-border attacks is a larger debate over how much political power Kurds should be allowed to wield in Iraq.

Kurds have carved out a U.S.-backed state within a state in Iraq, which has given Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, guerrillas a haven to strike Turkish forces across the frontier. Iraq's Kurds might provoke further Turkish wrath by pushing to extend their self-governing territory southward into the oil fields dominated by the contested city of Kirkuk.

Turkey worries that control over Kirkuk would give the Kurds ``access to the oil revenue which would allow them to finance an independent Kurdish state'' and ``stir up separatist pressure'' among Kurds inside Turkey, said Stephen Larrabee, a policy spe******t at the research group RAND Corp. in Washington.

Agreement on a policy for the Iraqi Kurds would revive U.S.-Turkish relations set back by the 2003 invasion of Iraq, which Turkey opposed. Otherwise, the U.S. might lose the backing of a democratic Muslim ally it depends on for supplying Iraq and as a buffer with Iran.

The Kurdish question is ``a huge future issue,'' said retired Lieutenant General Brent Scowcroft, a former U.S. national security adviser and current board chairman of the American-Turkish Council, a Washington-based group that promotes relations between the nations. ``It's a vital concern both for Iraq, for Turkey, for Iran and for Syria.''

Across Borders

About 30 million Kurds live in the mountainous regions of Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey. They make up the Middle East's largest stateless ethnic group.

The Bush administration wants the United Nations to help settle Kirkuk's status, while Turkey seeks a referendum of all Iraqis -- most of whom are Arabs -- to decide the city's fate. Iraq's constitution calls only for Kirkuk's residents to vote.

The border clashes have forced senior U.S. officials to shift their attention to Turkey. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice holds talks in Ankara today before a conference of Iraq's neighbors in Istanbul. Erdogan meets Bush at the White House on Nov. 5, with U.S. officials pointing toward intelligence-sharing on the PKK, which the U.S. and Turkey regard as a terrorist organization.

While Bush will talk about ``limiting the actions against the PKK,'' Turkey has a ``right to look for'' eight soldiers missing after a deadly October fight with the PKK just inside Turkey, spokeswoman Dana Perino said. The PKK fighters fled back into Iraq, according to the Turkish military.

`Concrete Results'

If the Turkish government gets ``concrete results in the fight against the PKK, I think there's the prospect of much better relations with the U.S. and Turkey, and the popularity level of the United States will go up,'' Turkey's ambassador to the U.S., Nabi Sensoy, said in an interview.

Only 9 percent of Turks in a Pew Global Attitudes survey held a favorable view of the U.S., reflecting discontent over the PKK issue and concerns about the disintegration of Iraq.

Another irritant in the U.S.-Turkish relationship has been removed: a proposed congressional resolution declaring the World War I-era killings of Armenians a genocide by Ottoman Turks. The assertion led to Sensoy's recall to Ankara and raised U.S. concerns about disruption of supply lines from Turkey to Iraq. Lawmakers dropped the measure.

Kurdish Pledge

In response to the threat of Turkish troops storming into Iraq -- which drove oil prices above $80 per barrel on the way to yesterday's $93.49 -- the U.S. acquiesced to limited Turkish bombing and shelling of the PKK. It has also pressured its Iraqi Kurdish allies to move against the separatist group.

Iraqi Kurds have refused Turkish demands to arrest PKK leaders. On Oct. 29, the two main Iraqi Kurdish factions pledged to ``adopt a correct approach to protect the borders and prevent any use of these areas for activities against our neighbors,'' according to a statement that didn't specify what steps would be taken.


Following the 1991 Gulf War, the U.S. and U.K. protected the Kurdish north against air attacks by Saddam Hussein's forces. The shield allowed Kurds to establish a government, police force and taxing authority.

The U.S. is pushing Iraq's factions, including the Kurds, to agree on a national oil law for revenue-sharing and development, a measure bogged down by infighting. The Kurdish regional government seeks to manage oil exploration in its territory.

The Kirkuk area would be a major prize: its oil fields may hold 10 billion barrels of crude, according to U.S. Energy Department estimates.

Iraq delayed a referendum on the status of the city -- claimed by Kurds, Arabs and ethnic Turkomans -- partly because of diplomatic pressure from Turkey.
``Turkey's relations with the U.S. have been considered a strategic partnership, and we want to continue working on those relations,'' said Mehmet Dulger, who was chief of Turkey's parliamentary foreign-affairs committee until July. ``But we don't understand why the U.S. is giving preference to a group of Kurds ahead of an ally of 50 years.''

Bush, Erdogan Split Over Kurds' Power in Oil-Rich Northern Iraq - Yahoo! News

Call for more international investors

Opportunities in Iraq have been customised to be more international investor friendly, a top official at the Gulf Iraq Expo (GIX) has said.
Presentations were held yesterday at GIX to discuss business opportunities currently available in Iraq.

Although the security situation in the country has become more stable. Iraq is still seeking international investors willing to inject the local economy with the investment needed to rapidly increase development.

"Kurdistan has introduced an investment law to aid in creating an investment climate and remove legal obstacles," Investment Board of Kurdistan member Taha Zengena told the GDN.

"We have allowed for foreign investors to have 100 per cent ownership and a 10-year tax holiday as well as a five-year exemption from customs and duties.

"Our aim is for all nations and nationalities to use Kurdistan to begin to move further into the business world of Iraq."

Mr Zengena also said that Kurdistan requires investment in a number of fields including manufacturing, electric power, agriculture, tourism, health, communication, banks and transport.

He also said that Kurdistan is witnessing an economic boom and that there are currently 53 projects underway there from national and foreign investors.

"We have introduced laws that allow foreign investors a to use a number of public utilities such as stores, pipelines and ports, the ability to lease land from the state for 40 years, to own or lease private lands in Iraq, and to define prices for import and export of oil," Iraqi Oil Ministry public relations department general director Hasseb Al Sadr said.

"We are expecting to increase the export of Iraqi oil to up to 2.5 million barrels a day after a trade route is opened through Jihan Airport in Turkey."

Mr Al Sadr said that it would take an investment of $10 billion to bring the Iraqi oil trade up to international export levels.

"The GIX is paving the way for the Iraqi commerce and industry sector to lay foundations and begin planning for the future," Iraqi ambassador in Bahrain Ghassan Muhsen said.

"Iraq requires a vast amount of products and goods to be exported from the Gulf and there are no direct links, the only places exporting to Iraq are Jordan and Dubai. "There is currently no direct export links from Bahrain to Iraq via road, air or sea. However, the Iraqi-Bahraini joint committee are to conduct a draft convention in order to develop an air travel trade route between the nations."

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Bahraini foreign minister arrives Turkey for Iraq''s neighbours meeting

Bahraini Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmad al Khalifa arrived in Istanbul on Thursday to take part in the Expanded Meeting of Foreign Ministers of Iraq's Neighbouring Countries scheduled to be held in Istanbul, Turkey, on November 3rd.

The focus of the meeting will be on "ways to promote greater regional dialogue and strengthen the work of the three regional working groups that were established at the last ministerial meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, namely on refugees and Internally Displaced Persons, border security and Energy.

The meeting, to be attended also by representatives of the world's eight major industrialized countries (G-8) and permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, coincides with mounting tensions on the Iraqi-Turkish borders.

Bahraini foreign minister arrives Turkey for Iraq''s neighbours meeting | Iraq Updates

PM's Statement on G8 Foreign Ministers' Meeting
Statement by KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani

The Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq (KRG) welcomes the Istanbul meetings of the Foreign Ministers of the G8, the Permanent 5, the neighbouring countries, the Arab League, and the UN Secretary General. We hope that this distinguished group of diplomats and interested parties will help to find a resolution to the current tensions which exist along the Iraqi-Turkish border.

The KRG condemns in the strongest terms the recent acts of violence committed by the PKK inside Turkey. There can be no excuse whatsoever for these actions which undermine peace and stability in the entire region and which are not in the interest of anyone involved. There is no place in the modern civilised world for this type of violence.

The KRG wants peaceful and cooperative relations with Turkey. We have many strong ties to Turkey, both economic and cultural, and we hope to see these ties grow in the future. People on both sides of the border have come to benefit from our trade relations and many Turkish firms are welcome participants in the economic life of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. We want to extend the hand of friendship to the people of Turkey and cooperate toward a more stable and prosperous future for all our peoples.

We understand Turkey’s frustration with the actions of the PKK and we share the grief and sadness over the loss of life that has taken place. We believe that the only solution to this long-running problem is to be found in negotiations and compromise, not further violence.

We insist that the PKK cease all violence against the Turkish military and make clear their willingness to lay down their arms and meet at the negotiating table. We are doing all we can to secure the release of all hostages and to defuse tensions in the area.

The KRG will in no way allow its soil to be used for violence or interference in the affairs of our neighbours and we are taking steps to guarantee that this does not happen.

Our commitment to peace and good relations with our neighbors is unshakeable – we have already seen too much violence and too much suffering in our history. This problem has existed in various forms for over 20 years – we are fearful that it will gain more life and more energy if violence is allowed to prevail.

We would like our friends in the region and elsewhere to know that we are ready – at any time, in any place, and with any group – to sit down and find a negotiated solution to the current impasse. For us, there is no alternative to dialogue and discussion. We believe there is an opportunity for a political solution and we urge the distinguished group of Foreign Ministers to work with us to find that solution.

The people of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq want only peace and stability so that we can continue our progress toward greater economic and political development. We are willingly a part of Iraq, and we intend to remain so. The people of Turkey should not fear our progress along the road toward freedom and prosperity. We want to be a safe and responsible neighbour to Turkey. We threaten no one, not today, or in the future.

PUKmedia :: English - PM's Statement on G8 Foreign Ministers' Meeting

Arab League Council Issues Statement on Developments of the Situation on the Iraqi-Turkish Border

Iraq Ministry Of Foreign Affairs

The Arab League Council held on a level of representatives an extraordinary meeting at the General Secretariat of the Arab League on Wednesday 31 Oct, 2007.

The meeting took place on a request from Iraq and was attended by Chairman of the Iraqi delegation, Mr. Labeed Abbawi Foreign Ministry Undersecretary for Policy Planning and Bilateral Relations, the Secretary-General of the Arab League and permanent representatives to discuss the latest developments in the situation on the Iraqi-Turkish border, the meeting was chaired by Ambassador Abdel Qader Hajar, Permanent Representative of Algeria.

Mr. Labeed Abbawi Foreign Ministry Undersecretary and Head of the Iraqi delegation explained in detail theses developments and the indecisive results of the task of the Iraqi security delegation which went to Turkey.

Mr. Labeed explained Iraq's stance in rejecting any presence of the PKK on Iraqi territory, and the Iraqi government’s refusal to use Iraqi territory for any terrorist act against its neighbor Turkey. The Council discussed various dimensions surrounding this issue on the basis of the distinguished historical relations that bind the Arab countries to Turkey and on extensive discussions. The meeting concluded with a joint statement

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