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

For Kurds, it's drill now, legislate later

Iraq region takes initiative during wait for oil law

September 2, 2007

TAQ TAQ, Iraq — The sticky-sweet smell of raw crude oil lubricates the dusty air as oilmen in orange overalls prepare to test one of the few new oil wells to be drilled in Iraq since the 2003 invasion. Then, with a gentle whoosh, a huge tongue of orange flame and dense black smoke shoots across the bare, undulating hills of this sparsely populated corner of northern Iraq.

It's a sight for sore eyes in a country where such fires are usually the result of sabotage, where the gasoline queues still stretch for blocks on end and where fierce political squabbles are delaying enactment of a law to regulate Iraq's oil industry, one of the key benchmarks set by the Bush administration to measure Iraq's progress.

But this is Kurdistan, a world apart from the rest of Iraq, and Kurdistan isn't waiting for a political solution in Baghdad to get on with the job of tapping potentially vast oil reserves. While Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish politicians bicker over the new oil law, the Kurdish regional government has been busily promoting investment in northern oil fields, signing deals with foreign oil companies and moving ahead with an investor-friendly oil law in the regional legislature.

"Kurdistan is working," said Ashti Hawrami, the Kurdistan Regional Government's minister of oil and gas. "If we sit down and do nothing we are not doing our job. We are doing our job for the country."

But whether Kurdistan is developing the oil resources for the sake of Iraq, or on its own behalf, is a question being asked by many Iraqis.

"The law clearly requires a unified policy, and for any one region or province to go its own way means you no longer have a unified policy," said Tariq Shafiq, a former head of the Iraq state oil company who helped write the proposed national oil law. "And if everyone goes their own way, you won't have a unified Iraq."

Under existing agreements with Baghdad, the Kurdistan government has pledged to pool its region's oil resources with the rest of Iraq, with the revenues to be distributed across the country, according to Hawrami.

But as long as there is no law regulating the industry nationwide, uncertainties loom over who will control Kurdistan's oil resources in the future, how they will be managed and who will profit.

Kurds have emerged as the most vociferous opponents of the current draft of the oil law, because, they say, the version they had agreed to now has amendments that assign management of all newly discovered fields to a state-run oil company and restrict the ability of federal regions to make deals with foreign companies—such as those already made with at least five foreign partnerships.

In the meantime, Kurdistan's ambitious plans for its oil industry could see the enclave transformed in a few years into a significant oil-producing region.

The Kurds' decades-old struggle against Saddam Hussein's regime left Kurdistan largely ignored in the race to develop Iraq's oil resources. Of Iraq's proven oil reserves of about 115 billion barrels, Kurdistan is known to have between 2 billion and 3 billion barrels.

But Hawrami cited recent independent surveys that put the estimated, though still unproven, reserves higher, at nearly 25 billion barrels—a figure that would put Kurdistan ahead of the United States in oil-producing potential.

Much exploration is needed to confirm these estimates, and much of the oil is likely to lie beneath mountainous terrain where the cost of recovery may make it unprofitable.



Sitting atop oil wealth
Kurdistan nonetheless is confident it will be able to produce 300,000 barrels of oil a day within the next year, a figure that will rise to 1 million barrels within the next five to seven years, according to Hawrami.

Given that Iraq's total oil production averages 2 million barrels a day, that would put Kurdistan in the position of supplying a third of the country's output—and on par with numerous oil-producing countries.

Therein lies the political sensitivity of the Kurds' push to develop their region's oil resources. Under current revenue-sharing agreements with Baghdad, Kurdistan is to receive 17 percent of Iraq's total oil revenues, proportionate to its share of Iraq's population.

But the region could soon find itself contributing more than a third of Iraq's oil revenues, a point at which it may make sense for Kurdistan to go it alone.

Kurdistan's regional government has done the math. "If I'm producing 1 million and you're producing 1 1/2 to 2 million, I'm subsidizing you, and that's not fair," Hawrami said. "Obviously, if we're producing one-third of Iraq's production, it's not going to work."

The question of Kurdish independence is acutely controversial, and Kurds insist they are not contemplating separation from Iraq. Turkey has repeatedly pledged military intervention if the Kurds declare independence.

Far from separating from Iraq, said Hawrami, Kurdistan's goal is to pressure the Iraqi government to increase its own oil production, to 8 million barrels a day, a level at which the national revenue-sharing agreements would make sense for Kurdistan—and benefit all Iraqis.

Shafiq, now an oil consultant in London, says he is suspicious. "A political guess would be that the Kurds have decided to go their own way. Are they preparing for independence? It seems like they are," he said.

Yet there are many other obstacles to be overcome before Kurdistan can start producing oil in profitably meaningful quantities.

Security concerns and political uncertainty have deterred major players such as Chevron, Shell and Exxon Mobil from entering even the relatively safe Kurdistan oil market, so it has been left to small speculators.

They include Ttopco, a joint venture between Turkish engineering firm Genel Enerji and a Switzerland-based Canadian oil company, Addax Petroleum International, which has signed an agreement with Kurdistan to develop the Taq Taq field, a barren stretch of hillside that is, in the words of Ttopco's general manager Can Sevun, "floating on oil."


Risks and rewards
It's a risky business. Ttopco has invested $200 million in drilling and exploration, with no guarantees that there will ever be an agreement on an oil law to legitimize its investment. Over the next two years, the partnership plans to spend $2 billion on infrastructure and on 30 or 40 wells.

The rewards are potentially vast. Ttopco estimates the Taq Taq field contains 2 billion barrels of oil, worth about $140 billion at today's prices. It is already in a position to pump 75,000 barrels of oil a day and expects that capacity to increase to 300,000 barrels a day by the end of next year.

The figures are meaningless without either a pipeline to transport the oil or a refinery to process it, and both are lacking. Ttopco says it is planning a pipeline that would tie Taq Taq to the main pipeline linking the Kirkuk oil field to the Turkish port of Ceyhan, and a small refinery for the local market. But it does not have the resources to build a refinery with export capacity, and it is far from clear whether Turkey would allow oil pumped in Kurdistan to be delivered through Turkey.

"This is the big question mark over oil production in Kurdistan—the export routes," said Jill Junnola of the London-based Energy Intelligence newsletter. "This is the issue that may force Kurdistan to make compromises to keep Baghdad happy, and to keep Ankara happy."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/n...ck=1&cset=true

Oil firms to submit $1bn Iraq development plan

by Reuters on Sunday, 02 September 2007

Addax Petroleum and Genel Enerji expect to submit a $1 billion development plan within weeks to Iraq's Kurdish region for their joint venture TTopco's Taq Taq oilfield, a TTopco executive said Sunday.

Output from the field could hit 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) by 2010, Les Blair, general manager of TTopco, told Reuters.

"The production plateau is up to 200,000 bpd," Blair said. "In the coming weeks we'll submit the field development plan. Investment would be approximately $1 billion."

The plan will go to Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) for approval. The blueprint requires access to an export route for the oil as output would exceed local demand, Blair said.

In May 2006, Swiss-based Addax and Turkey's Genel Enerji signed a 25-year production sharing agreement (PSA) with the KRG for Taq Taq.

The oilfield is 60 kilometres north of the giant Kirkuk oilfield in Iraq, which has been plagued by a brutal insurgency since a US-led invasion in March 2003.

But the Kurdish region has been relatively stable and the government - hungry for development - has encouraged operators such as TTopco to begin work.

The KRG plans to boost output to one million bpd in about five years from just a few thousand bpd now. It has inked five PSAs and has said it has more deals ready to sign.

The region had put new deals on hold while it waited for Baghdad to pass a controversial new federal oil law which stipulates who controls the world's third largest oil reserves and how revenue is distributed.

Washington has pushed Iraq for months to speed up its passage and that of other legislation, which it sees as pivotal to reconciling warring Iraqis, rebuilding Iraq's shattered economy and attracting foreign investment.

After months of waiting for Baghdad, the KRG passed its own oil law in August.

The KRG says the PSAs that it has already signed were in line with the constitution and the new oil law.

The KRG and Baghdad have clashed over the contracts, and the KRG has said it will review them to ensure their harmony with new laws.

The passing of the oil law was also expected to herald an agreement on export routes for crude from the Kurdish region.

The central government has yet to give the nod to Norwegian operator DNO to hook its oil output from the Tawke field in the Kurdish region into Iraq's main export pipeline to Turkey.

DNO has already built a link from the Tawke field to the export pipeline. Output from Tawke is limited while DNO awaits permission to export, and the company has been delivering crude to local markets in trucks.

Oil firms to submit $1bn Iraq development plan - Energy - ArabianBusiness.com

Iraq mulling $2bn petrochemical plant

02 September 2007

Iraq is considering building a $2 billion petrochemical plant and could begin talks with potential international investors in the project this year, the country's industry minister said on Sunday. "We are considering a completely new facility in the central or northern parts of the country," Fawzi Al-Hariri told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference in Dubai.

The plant, which could be 100% owned by private sector firms, would have an annual capacity of one million tonnes of ethylene and derivatives, he said. Hariri said 50% of the envisaged output would be earmarked for export.

The feedstock for the plant would be associated oil field gas that Iraq, an Opec oil producer, is currently flaring, or gas from new field developments, he said. Iraq should make a decision soon on the new plant because development of the regional industry meant that the longer it waited the less attractive investment would be.

Firms in Saudi Arabia, the region's largest petrochemicals producer, plan to spend about $80 billion in the next five years adding capacity on the relatively cheap supplies of gas used in production, a Saudi government official said in June. The investments would raise Saudi output to 15% of the world's total within five years, or double its current level.

Oil majors are eager to gain access to Iraq's oil reserves - the third-largest in the world - although security concerns mean the companies are reluctant to put people on the ground. The security budget of a plant like this could reach up of 40% of the total budget, Hariri said, adding that choosing a location would be influenced by security issues.

Hariri said on Wednesday that Royal Dutch Shell and Dow Chemical were in talks with the government to renovate and expand a chemical plant in southern Iraq at a cost of up to $2.1 billion. Similar talks were also conducted with Chevron, he said on Sunday.

Iraq, which produces most of its crude oil in the south of the country, pumped 2.07 million barrels per day last month, making it the Middle East's fifth-largest producer, according to a Reuters survey this month.

Iraq mulling $2bn petrochemical plant - Energy - ArabianBusiness.com

Iraq parliament faces storms over Baathists, oil law

5 hours ago

BAGHDAD (AFP) — Iraq's parliament reconvenes on Tuesday for what is expected to be a stormy session over allowing members of Saddam Hussein's Baath party back into positions of power and to tackle a key oil law.

Bitterly-divided lawmakers return to the national assembly after a month-long holiday Washington had urged them not to take, just days ahead of a crucial progress report on Iraq to the US Congress.

Washington sees resolution of the Baath party issue and the passage of the oil law as benchmarks to measure Iraq's progress towards political reconciliation that will eventually allow a withdrawal of US forces from the war-ravaged country.

On August 27, Iraq's five most senior leaders led by President Jalal Talabani and Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki pledged to resolve the disputes, which since the US-led invasion in 2003 that toppled Saddam have caused bitter wrangling between Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish sects.

"Lawmakers have major differences on these issues," said MP Nassar al-Rubaie from the 32-seat political bloc of fiery Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who has millions of followers, most of them Shiites heavily oppressed during the rule of the Baath regime.

"Differences persist when it comes to Baathists, oil and provincial elections," Rubaie told AFP.

Replacing of the four-year-old de-Baathification law by a draft bill known as the Reconciliation and Accountability Law has been a long standing demand of the Sunni Arab leaders.

The law will facilitate the return of former Baathists, with no criminal records, to government or military jobs.

"The Reconciliation and Accountability Law will be on top of the agenda" of the parliamentary session, said Omar Abdul Sattar Mahmud, MP from the National Concord Front, the main Sunni bloc in the assembly, holding 44 seats.

Analysts say that the sacking of thousands of Baathists from government and military jobs after the fall of Saddam created a lack of bureaucrats and severely weakened military leadership in the war-torn country.

Early passage of the law through the 275-seat parliament could boost Maliki's Shiite-led administration, some lawmakers say.

"There is nobody to run the daily show. It was the Baathists who knew the bureaucracy and the present government is short of such people," Kurdish MP Mahmud Othman told AFP recently.

The other key bill expected to dominate the agenda is a law that will determine ownership of Iraq's vast oil deposits, which has faced stiff resistance from all three communities.

Maliki's cabinet passed the bill in July but parliament had come nowhere near to discussing it when it went into summer recess on July 31.

The bill, seen by Washington as one of the key factors to help end sectarian bloodshed in Iraq, lays down control of the country's oil wealth and how it would be distributed across the communities in the 18 provinces.

US officials have repeatedly urged the Iraqis to adopt a consensus law on sharing revenues and on international investment in order to head off future conflict and allow the oil sector to develop.

Iraq's oil reserves are largely in the Kurdish north and the Shiite south. Sunni Arabs from the central and western regions fear they could be robbed of the revenues from the crude exports.

"The oil law is important but it will take a long time to be passed given the differences," said Sattar Mahmud.

Aside from the Sunnis, even the Kurds are concerned at the contents of the bill as a number of foreign companies have already entered into contracts with the northern Kurdish government to explore for oil in that region.

Kurds fear these contracts could be terminated after Oil Minister Hussein Shahristani said in May that any contract signed before the adoption of the law would be cancelled.

Kurdish officials insist they will honour the contracts, and also claim to have reached an agreement with Baghdad whereby it will receive 17 percent of the country's oil revenues.

Othman said many of the lawmakers had not even read the bill.

"A lot of them are against the law because of the American pressure. They think it is an American law and they haven't even read it," he said.

AFP: Iraq parliament faces storms over Baathists, oil law

Iraq PM to U.S. lawmakers: Stay out of our politics

BAGHDAD, Iraq, 09/02 - Faced with walkouts by members of his government and increasing criticism from U.S. officials, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki told U.S. senators Sunday to butt out of his country`s domestic politics.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, shown August 16, accused U.S. lawmakers of "severe interference."

"There are American officials who consider Iraq as if it were one of their villages, for example Hillary Clinton and Carl Levin," al-Maliki told reporters in Baghdad. "This is severe interference in our domestic affairs."

Clinton, the early Democratic front-runner in the 2008 presidential contest, and Levin, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said last week that Iraq`s parliament should replace al-Maliki when it reconvenes next month.

They said his year-old government has not taken the political steps necessary to end the fighting that has ravaged Iraq since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

"Carl Levin and Hillary Clinton are from the Democratic Party and they must demonstrate democracy," al-Maliki said. "I ask them to come to their senses and to talk in a respectful way about Iraq."

Al-Maliki said French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, during a visit last week to Baghdad, also asked for his government`s removal.

The prime minister said he has demanded an apology from the French government .

President Bush said last week that he continues to support the prime minister.

Al-Maliki has also come under heavy criticism from Bush`s Republican allies, who have so far blocked congressional Democratic efforts to bring American troops home.

Sen. John Warner, a senior Republican and influential former chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, just returned from Baghdad with Levin.

Last week, Warner urged Bush to start the process of bringing U.S. troops home from Iraq in September. Watch Warner`s proposal pick up a supporter »

On Sunday, Warner said he may support Democratic legislation ordering withdrawals if Bush does not set a timetable.

"I don`t say that as a threat, but I say that is an option we all have to consider," he informed on Sunday.

Meanwhile, former interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi has enlisted the aid of a powerful GOP lobbying firm in Washington in an effort to replace al-Maliki`s government.

U.S. officials have been pressing Iraqi leaders to pass a package of measures aimed at settling the four-year-old war, in which some 3,700 Americans have died.

Estimates of Iraqi deaths range from 70,000 to hundreds of thousands.

Government leaders said Sunday they had reached agreement on some of those measures. But the top Sunni Arab in the Iraqi leadership, Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, played down the reports of progress, and his office called the agreements "not so significant."

AngolaPress - News

Maliki says his govt stopped civil war

02 Sep 2007

Source: Reuters

BAGHDAD, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Sunday responded to critics in the U.S. Congress, saying his government had kept Iraq from plunging into sectarian civil war.

Maliki told a news conference his critics had crossed what he called a "reasonable line" and were encouraging militants trying to destabilise Iraq.

Democratic presidential hopeful Senator Hillary Clinton and other U.S. lawmakers have called for Iraq's parliament to replace Maliki, a Shi'ite Islamist.

"They do not realise the size of the disaster that Iraq has passed through and the big role of this government, a government of national unity. The most important achievement is it stopped a sectarian and civil war," Maliki said.

His comments came just over a week before U.S. President George W. Bush's top officials in Iraq present pivotal reports on the country's security and political situation.

Maliki said he did not want to prejudge the testimony by U.S. commander, General David Petraeus, and Ambassador Ryan Crocker, which is to be delivered to Congress on Sept. 10.

"We have to wait until we know what is written," he said.

Maliki is under mounting pressure from officials in Washington to show progress towards reconciling warring majority Shi'ite Muslims and minority Sunni Arabs.

Tens of thousands of Iraqis have been killed since the bombing of a revered Shi'ite shrine in the town of Samarra in February 2006 unleashed a wave of sectarian bloodshed that pushed the country to the brink of all-out civil war.

In a report released last February, the U.S. intelligence community concluded that key elements of Iraq's violence had risen to the level of "civil war".

The National Intelligence Estimate report had said escalating violence between Shi'ites and Sunni Arabs met the definition for a civil war, but added the politically charged term did not describe all the chaos in Iraq.

Clinton and fellow Democratic Senator Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate's Armed Services Committee, have called for Maliki to be voted out because of his failure to find a political solution to Iraq's bitter sectarian conflict.

"ENCOURAGING TERRORISTS"

Maliki, insisting his government had been active in fostering national reconciliation, said U.S. officials should think first before criticising his administration.

"This sends messages to the terrorists that the security situation is weak and the political situation is not strong. These are negative messages, encouraging the terrorists," he said.

Democrats in Congress have criticised Bush's Iraq policy and along with some senior Republicans have called for U.S. troops to begin pulling out as soon as possible.

The U.S. military says attacks have fallen since 30,000 more American troops deployed under Bush's plan to give Iraqi leaders "breathing space" to bridge the deep sectarian divide.

But while some security gains have been achieved, no key laws aimed at reconciling Iraq's warring groups have been passed, and Maliki's cabinet has been hit by the withdrawal of nearly half his ministers.

In one positive development, powerful Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr froze for up to six months the activities of his feared Mehdi Army last Wednesday after gunbattles involving the militia in the holy Shi'ite city of Kerbala killed dozens.

But Sadr's office on Sunday warned of unspecified "decisions" if the government did not conduct a fair investigation into the clashes, raising questions about the movement's commitment to Sadr's order.

Maliki told the news conference he had set up an independent committee to probe the clashes.

A statement from Sadr's office in the city of Najaf accused security forces of detaining more than 200 Sadr supporters following the clashes. Iraq's government has said 72 people had been detained, adding Sadr's followers were not being targeted.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L02535730.htm

Iraqi officials: the southern governorates "promising opportunities" for investment

Source: CNN-02/09/2007

The Vice President of the Republic of Iraq, Adel Abdel Mahdi, more than 300 businessmen, mostly from the Gulf States, for establishing investment projects in the southern governorates of Iraq, saying that the government "created a safer environment for investment" in those regions.

He said Abdel-Mahdi, during the first Iraq for work and investment, which began its work Wednesday in Dubai, said that "Iraq is not just oil and natural gas, but a country awash with potential and resources, which include, for example, agriculture, infrastructure, tourism, historical and religious. "

The Iraqi Vice President, as saying: "the new investment law that would facilitate the establishment of the investment activities of both companies and the Iraqi-Iraqi alike, through the provision of investment climate security."

Abdul-Mahdi headed a delegation comprising more than a hundred officials and Iraqi businessmen, to participate in the conference, attended by about 300 businessmen from the United Arab Emirates, and the world.

The aim of the conference, which is the first conference organized by the Iraqi government abroad, to the definition of Gulf businessmen in general, and in particular the Emirian, employment opportunities and investments available in Iraq, and discussed with their Iraqi counterparts.

Spokesman for the Iraqi government, for Skinner

Conference focuses on attracting investments to the southern governorates of Iraq, with the exception of Basra province, which he described spokesman for the Iraqi government, to Skinner, as "sui generis."

And the selection of Dubai for such a conference, said Skinner, in an interview with CNN in Arabic, that this was due to "good relations" between Iraq and the United Arab Emirates, in addition to the city of Dubai represent "a point with the task of attracting great opportunities to meet investors."

With regard to the privileges provided by the new investment law, to attract businessmen to invest their capital in Iraq, Skinner explained that the law provides tax exemptions and customs large production inputs, in addition to providing land for investors.

Although described spokesman for the Iraqi government investment law that "in its current, is a very important point, and provides a good environment for investors," but he pointed out that (law) "might need in advanced stages to be further developed, in order to encourage investors."

The Iraqi Minister of National Security, Shirwan areas Aloaele

Meanwhile, dependability and Iraqi Minister of National Security, Shirwan areas Aloaele, this conference much to the strengthening of security and stability in Iraq, saying that "development and economic support, will certainly to security," pointing out that many of the security problems stem mainly from higher unemployment rates.

The security situation around the southern Iraq untrue, assured Aloaele, all investors, from inside and outside Iraq, to their capital, but without denying the existence of some problems.

He said in an interview with CNN in Arabic: "There have been some security problems recently, but we've arrested a number of squatters, both civilians and military and police officers."

He denied the Iraqi Security Minister that there would be any negative repercussions of the withdrawal of some coalition forces from the southern regions of international, said: "There are three or four provinces received security file, and strive for the receipt of files security for the rest of the provinces."

Iraqi Minister of Industry, Fawzi Hariri

The Iraqi Minister of Industry, Fawzi Hariri, it stressed that the controversy witnessed by his country's Parliament on a new law for oil, leading to damage of this important economic sector, calling on the House to quickly pass this law.

He said Hariri, in an interview with CNN in Arabic: "strange position of those who oppose the law .. They must first consider where Iraq arrived during the last period, with many states have made huge strides to achieve development for their people, after the opening of the oil sector to private investment."

He says: "There is no room for politicians to interfere in such matters, but must be given the opportunity to spe******ts .. limited political role in supervision and ensure that resources are invested, and revenues benefit citizens."

He asked Hariri said: "The oil resources belong to Iraq for more than half a century, what do politicians?"

Discusses the conference, which lasts for two days, over a period of ten working sessions, legislation, financing and financial laws to the government, and trade and economy in Iraq, and the issue of banks in the country, as well as investment opportunities in the southern governorates of Iraq.

As for Thursday, will discuss issues related to State-owned enterprises, and investment opportunities in agriculture and agro-business, reconstruction and contract opportunities, and the last meeting under the title Two-hour (test successful investments in the private sector).

Dubai hosts the business and investment in Iraq

Source: BBC-02/09/2007

Witnessed in the city of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, the business and investment in Iraq, which concluded last Thursday with a number of Iraqi officials and representatives of international companies to discuss investment opportunities in the country.

He said Tabulators conference he gave hundreds of huge investment opportunities billions of dollars.

The Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdel Mahdi in the conference and stressed that "Iraq is thirsty for investment (..) and provides opportunities for capital with different sizes."

Also consider that the investors who risk to enter the Iraqi market before others will be the biggest beneficiaries, as quoted by Agence France-Presse.

He Abdelmahdi that violence that has ravaged Iraq can not be a barrier to investments adding that "all areas not prone to violence the same proportion."

He emphasized that investments in some countries that have experienced waves of violence did not stop, recalling in particular Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Algeria.

The Iraqi Vice President, as hundreds of billions of dollars the cost of rebuilding the Iraqi infrastructure and the volume of investments available to global corporations.

For his part, Minister of Industry and Minerals in the Iraqi government Fawzi Hariri that his ministry is determined to open its institutions and the 65 partnership with the Foundation for Arab and international investments estimated volume of investments expected at about four billion dollars.

He pointed out that the volume of investments offered by the Ministry during the conference, estimated at more than 51 billion dollars also said that the ministry was studying the draft rehabilitation of the Iraqi petrochemical company through investments may exceed $ 2 billion.

The conference witnessed, which was attended by about 300 representatives of Arab and international companies, in addition to dozens of Iraqi officials, the search expanded in investment opportunities in the areas of agricultural and construction in addition to the economic environment in the free zones and new laws that stimulate investments in Iraq.

Tourism religious backbone of tourism in Iraq

Source: Qabas Kuwaiti-02/09/2007

Said Chairman of the Tourism Committee in Iraq, said that the old historical sites in Iraq may have been damaged and looted and the bombing may have been attacked or hotel staff, or forced to flee, but Iraq is still worth a visit.
The violence has resulted in a large part of the country to alienate visitors, but in charge of tourism Mohammed Aliakoki said that more than 570 thousand people visited the Shiite holy sites in southern Iraq last year. A number Aliakoki expressed the hope that more.
He added in an interview with Reuters' that the most important task at present is religious tourism, especially in Karbala and Najaf, where Shiite holy sites because those safe areas'.
He added: 'Every day 1500 people visiting these sites and most Iranians. But there are Muslims from Bahrain and other countries .. The figure will increase to 2500 by people daily Ramadan. Before the war, Iraq was to receive the 8000 Visiting sanctums of Shiite daily '.
And those who receive government, which was founded in 1956 groups of visitors at the border and to seize their hotels and holiday trips provide comprehensive services ranging weeks near the holy Shiite. Regulates private individuals visits to the holy Shiite. Shiite celebrations were attacked repeatedly since the United States led an invasion of Iraq in 2003 and forced authorities to evacuate visitors in the holy city of Karbala yesterday after 52 people were killed in clashes. The Committee hopes to attract investors in the Iraqi trade in Dubai in order to assist in building or renovating hotels in the cities of Najaf and Basra retiring Arabs.
The authority Aliakoki central Iraq a Sunni majority but did not include the Kurdish-run north Kurdistan regional government. It is not easy to promote the areas under their authority Aliakoki.
Acts of kidnapping and spare capital foreigners working through contracts or working in the media and other actors gave Baghdad and the surrounding region reputation frightening and ferocious as was the case in Beirut during the Lebanese civil war in the 1980s.
There are a few airlines that fly to go there. The Iraqis themselves - not to mention the aliens - are afraid to exit fun.
Aliakoki and said 'we have about ten thousand archaeological site in Iraq. These sites were looted and severely damaged after the war and now we are trying to repair .. But this requires much work '.
He added that 'the Iraqi National Museum reopened, but visitors regarding the security situation does not help'.
Not Iraq in the past destination for the holidays, but it is home to some ancient civilizations and there are historic sites of Babylon and Sumar. In Baghdad museums and palaces and religious destinations.
In one day the fish restaurants grandstand stand on both sides of the Tigris, which Baghdad incursion. Basra was once known as the Venice Middle.
The attack, which took place last year in Mazar Shiite city of Samarra to the sectarian violence continues even today.
He said Aliakoki 'damaged everything .. In Mosul, Basra, Hilla and Tikrit. We have hotels belong to the Committee and are affected .. Tikrit and Mosul points Sakhntan .. It is therefore not possible to start restoring tourist areas there. We focus on the south because relatively secure '.

Real Movement

Source: Sabah Al-02/09/2007

Movement seen in the real estate capital Rsafa remarkable activity led to a gradual rise in the prices of real estate sale and rent and rents were more active than sales has prompted the return of the owners of companies and real estate offices in most regions Resafe to work in the index movement calls for the recovery of real estate, some observers attributed to the relative stability and security in the Resafe which made people fleeing and congregate in those areas and this is only natural that this may lead to repercussions no longer natural Perhaps foremost in the prices of real estate sale and rent and the number of 'balance of the population with the volume of municipal services, health and education is what Pkahlh those service institutions requires them to take into account the number of the population exodus from the Karkh and surrounding areas in Baghdad to work on providing some services commensurate with the amount of their demonstrations, although the movement of real estate in general and Baghdad was still linked to steer the security situation, it did not signaling stable or positive feature as confusion in most walks of life because of the deterioration of economic security and Tdakhlath confusing and de****e the negative ramifications of a real movement in areas Resafe but this movement was characterized by a marked rise of prices and rents irregularly without specific levels can tracker or economic analyst indicate that calendar barometer of the real estate sector in Baghdad .. This confusion .. This imbalance would casts its shadow on the economic cycle which is the housing sector where important and vital element.
This feature of economic housing in the state Resafe longer linked security situation throughout the capital that the Karkh may witness a real movement if they saw an improvement in the security situation and get rid of the attitude of terrorism can not be positive even longer reflected positively on the owners of companies and real estate offices only they represent perspectives economic situation chaotic confused soon fade and disappear demise of the security situation.