Thread: Archive Latest News - Think Tank - 01/01/08 - 14/04/08

New agreements reached with Ahmadinejad - Iraqi President

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani on Sunday said many agreements were reached with the visiting Iranian president after meeting Ahmadinejad who earlier arrived in the Iraqi capital Baghdad.

"We have reached many agreements with Iran in various fields, particularly in economic and political domains," Talabani told reporters in a news conference jointly held with Ahmadinejad.

Replied to a question as to amending the Iranian-Iraqi accord of 1975 in Algiers, Talabani said "We have never touched upon this issue in our meeting today."

On March 6, 1975, with the mediation of the former Algerian President Houari Boumedienne, Iraq – represented by the Vice President (at that time) Saddam Hussein and Iran – represented by the Shah Mohammed Ridha Pahlavi, signed in Algeria the Algiers Accord to demark the borders between the two countries. By executing that accord, Iran officially agreed with Iraq to have part of Shatt Al-Arab under Iranian sovereignty, according to the Thalweg Line (meaning the median course of the Shatt Al-Arab waterway).

"The negotiations were positive and we are resolved to enhance cooperation in all fields," Talabani remarked.

Ahmadinejad who expressed happiness to visit Saddam-post Iraq said "I am here to consolidate the friendly ties between the two countries."

Earlier on Sunday, the Iranian president arrived in Baghdad on a two-day-visit.

Aswat Aliraq

JCS chairman arrives in Baghdad on eve of Ahmadinejad's visit

Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) Michael Mullen arrived in Baghdad on Saturday evening on an unannounced visit to Iraq on the eve of a landmark state visit by Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad.

"Mullen will meet Iraqi leaders and officials ahead of his scheduled meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush in April to brief him on the future of military efforts in the country," the New York Times (NYT) newspaper said in its Sunday issue.

The paper hinted at "the absence of clear coordination on the timing of Admiral Mullen's visit, which coincides with Ahmadinejad's."

Ahmadinejad had arrived in Baghdad on Sunday morning with a high-level delegation The visit is the first ever paid by an Iranian president since 1979 after the two neighboring countries were at war from 1980 to 1988.

The United States accuses Iran of furnishing weapons and aid to armed groups in Iraq to fight U.S. forces, charges Iran vehemently denied.

U.S.-Iranian relations have been marred by tension throughout the past decades, ever since the Shiite clerics came to power in the late 1970s after toppling Shah of Iran Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, once the United States' strong ally.

Aswat Aliraq

Iraq-Iran talks Positive - PM

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki termed as "positive" Sunday's talks with visiting Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, calling on the once-bitter enemy country to help in reconstruction efforts.

Speaking at a joint press conference with Ahmadinejad in Baghdad, Maliki said, "We had very good talks that were friendly and brotherly...We have mutual understandings and identical views in all fields."

Maliki said Ahmadinejad's visit "would encourage the leaders of neighboring countries to do similar trips and bolster the bilateral ties with Iraq."

Citing Iranian help in stabilizing security conditions in Iraq, the Iraqi premier called on Iran to "help in Iraq's reconstruction."

Though much of the public talk focused on the warming relations between the two countries, Ahmadinejad denounced U.S. accusations that Iran was training and supplying Shiite militia fighters in Iraq with weapons designed to kill U.S. troops.

"Such accusations worsen the problems of the Americans in the region and are not going to solve their problems," Ahmadinejad said in a press conference with Maliki.

The Iranian leader lauded the Iraqi people's culture, describing it as "lasting and self-reviving."

Earlier on Sunday Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said many agreements were reached with the visiting Iranian president.

"We have reached many agreements with Iran in various fields, particularly in economic and political domains," Talabani told reporters in a news conference jointly held with Ahmadinejad.

Replying to a question on the amendment of the Iranian-Iraqi accord of 1975 in Algiers, Talabani said, "We have never touched on this issue in our meeting today."

On March 6, 1975, with the mediation of the former Algerian President Houari Boumedienne, Iraq – represented by the then-vice president Saddam Hussein – and Iran – represented by the Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, signed in Algeria the Algiers Accord to demark the borders between the two countries.

By virtue of the agreement, Iran officially agreed with Iraq to have part of Shatt al-Arab under Iranian sovereignty, according to the Thalweg Line (meaning the median course of the Shatt Al-Arab waterway).

"The negotiations were positive and we are resolved to enhance cooperation in all fields," Talabani remarked.

Ahmadinejad who expressed happiness to visit Saddam-post Iraq, said "I am here to consolidate the friendly ties between the two countries."

The Iranian president arrived in Baghdad on a two-day-visit.

Aswat Aliraq

Dana Gas to supply gas to Iraq Kurds from mid-2008

UAE-based Dana Gas DANA.AD will begin supplying gas to the Kurdish region from a field in northern Iraq by mid-year, six months later than first planned, Dana said on Sunday.

The start-up is later than initially scheduled because the power station that the gas will fuel has yet to be completed.

Dana has boosted investment in the project to push forward with a second phase of supply from the field which will double output to 300 million cubic feet per day (cfd) of gas by early 2009.

Dana's estimate for total investment in the project has risen to $650 million including the second phase, up from the $400 million investment Dana said last year that the first phase of the project would require. Investments are split equally between Dana Gas and its affiliate Crescent Petroleum.

Iraq's central government has criticised deals that international energy companies have struck with the semi-autonomous Kurdish regional government (KRG), calling them illegal. The KRG, which has clashed with Baghdad over draft oil legislation, has countered that the deals are legal and comply with Iraq's constitution.

The deals that have come under most fire from Baghdad are production sharing agreements (PSAs) that give international companies a share of oil produced. Dana's deal differs from those as it is a service contract carried out for a set fee.

Dana said that its investment was the largest single private sector investment in Iraq since 2003, when the U.S. led an invasion of the country.

GAS CITY

Dana won a service contract from the regional authority in April 2007 for the rapid installation of processing and transmission facilities at the Khor Mor field to begin supplying gas for power generation by January 2008.

The project also required the construction of a 180 km (111 miles) of pipelines for the gas.

"The entire project is on track for first gas supply of 150 million cubic feet of gas per day by middle of this year, rising to 300 million cubic feet by early 2009," Dana said. The project is 70 percent complete, it added.

The gas is to supply two power plants with capacity to generate 1,250 megawatts of power under construction near the cities of Arbil and Sulaimaniya. The gas project would save the KRG some $2 billion a year that would otherwise have to be spent to import liquid fuels for power generation, Dana said in a statement.

"We are very pleased with the rapid progress of this important project which will benefit not only the people of the Kurdistan region but contribute to affordable electricity for the whole of Iraq," KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani, said in the statement.

The Khor Mor field was shut after the first Gulf War in 1991. Dana is also appraising the Chemchemal field.

When Dana won the service contract, it also signed an agreement with the KRG to evaluate development of the region's gas reserves. That deal may eventually lead to the semi-autonomous region in northern Iraq exporting gas to neighbouring countries.

Dana and the government were also drawing up plans for a large gas-fed industrial complex, to be named Kurdistan Gas City, which may include petrochemical, metals and other heavy industry plants. The feasibility study for the project is complete and a site is being found, Dana said. Dana and Crescent aim to use the city as a model for more projects in the region.

"The gas city will be the first of its kind in the Middle East, and a unique concept that Dana Gas and Crescent Petroleum aim to bring to other locations in the region also, with a focus on gas utilisation to maximise inward investment and local job creation," Thomas Watts, project director, said.

PUKmedia :: English - Dana Gas to supply gas to Iraq Kurds from mid-2008

Iraq-Iran Sign Memorandum of Understanding on Assurance

The Iraqi Assurance Company and the Iranian Assurance Company have signed a memorandum of Understanding on cooperation between both sides on Sunday, coincidently with the visit by the Iranian President to Iraq.

Signing the memorandum of Understanding will pave the way of promoting cooperation and bilateral ties between both countries, Nawroz Khzadi, head of the Iranian Assurance Company said, indicating relations between Iraq and Iran have witnessed a progress after the collapse of the Baath dictatorship regime.

Vistas by the Iraqis and the Iranians to the holy shrines in Iraq and Iran and their need for assurances including treatment assurance, social assurances are reasons of signing this memorandum of Understanding.

PUKmedia :: English - Iraq-Iran Sign Memorandum of Understanding on Assurance

Iran, Iraq to review issue of joint Oil Wells

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini announced on Sunday that Iran and Iraq are to review the issue of the two countries' joint oil wells, the official IRNA news agency reported.

He told reporters during his weekly press briefing that a joint committee, to be formed in the next two months, will discuss the joint oil wells issue.

On the activities of Mujahideen Khalq Organization (MKO) members in Iraq, he said that the MKO members should leave Iraq according to the decision made by the Iraqi government.

As to Iran's allocation of a one-billion-dollar loan to Iraq, he said the amount will be spent on projects being carried out by Iranian companies.

The Foreign Ministry spokesman also pointed out that the current visit of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Iraq is an indication of Iran's honesty in supporting the Iraqi government.

The objective of Ahmadinejad's visit is to create convergence among regional states and to prevent interference of foreign states in domestic affairs of the regional countries, he added.

Ahmadinejad paid on Sunday a landmark visit to Iraq, the first for an Iranian president since Iran's Islamic Revolution in 1979.

Ahmadinejad was received by his Iraqi counterpart Jalal Talabani in his residence at the edge of the heavily fortified Green Zone in central Baghdad, which houses the Iraqi government offices and foreign embassies, including the U.S. one.

Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said on Feb. 14 that in his two-day visit, Ahmadinejad was scheduled to hold talks with Talabani and Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

The leaders would discuss bilateral relations and joint projects, he said.

During Ahmadinejad's visit, the two sides are expected sign up to 10 economic agreements.

Iran, Iraq to review issue of joint oil wells_English_Xinhua

Ahmadinejad Calls Iraq 'Brotherly'

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Sunday his landmark visit to Iraq opened a new chapter in "brotherly" relations between the two countries, which were once bitter enemies.

Ahmadinejad is the first Iranian president to visit Iraq. The trip not only highlights his country's growing influence on its Arab neighbor in the post-Saddam Hussein era, but it also serves as an act of defiance toward the U.S., which accuses Iran of training and giving weapons to Shiite extremists in Iraq.

The Iranian leader went from Baghdad's airport to a meeting with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, who gave him a red-carpet welcome. The two kissed four times on the cheek in the traditional fashion and a band played the two countries' national anthems.

"We had very good talks that were friendly and brotherly. ... We have mutual understandings and views in all fields, and both sides plan to improve relations as much as possible," Ahmadinejad said in a news conference with Talabani at the Iraqi president's residence, located across the Tigris River from the new U.S. Embassy in the fortified Green Zone.

Talabani said the two discussed economic, political, security and oil issues and planned to sign several agreements later. But he said the issue of borders, including the disputed Shatt al-Arab waterway between the two countries, was not discussed.

Iran has denied U.S. charges that it aids militants, and Ahmadinejad stressed that his country wanted a stable Iraq that would benefit the region.

"A united Iraq, a sovereign Iraq and an advanced Iraq is to the benefit of all regional nations and the people of Iran," he said.

The news conference appeared to end abruptly after a reporter asked Ahmadinejad about the People's Mujahedeen Organization of Iran, which was allied with Saddam during the bitter 1980s war between the two countries. The group has opposed Iran's Islamic republic and has operated out of Iraq. The U.S. and European Union list it as a terrorist organization.

Talabani interjected, saying: "This issue has been discussed earlier and the presence of those as a terrorist organization is constitutionally not allowed. We will endeavor to get rid of them out of the Iraqi territory soon."

After discussions with Talabani, Ahmadinejad went to meet Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Both of the Iraqi leaders have made official visits to Iran since taking office.

The U.S. has said it will have no involvement in Ahmadinejad's visit. Ahmadinejad arrived in Iraq a day after Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, came to Baghdad on an unannounced visit with commanders and Iraqi officials.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari told The Associated Press that Ahmadinejad plans to leave Monday morning.

Though both are Shiite-majority countries, Iran and Iraq were hostile to each other throughout Saddam's regime. Their eight-year war after Saddam invaded Iran in 1980 cost about 1 million lives.

But when Saddam's Sunni-dominated regime fell and Iraq's Shiite majority took power after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, long-standing ties between the Shiites of both countries flourished again, though the two neighbors have yet to sign a peace treaty.

Many of Iraq's Shiite leaders lived in exile in Iran during Saddam's rule, and Talabani, a Sunni Kurd, speaks fluent Farsi.

With the trip, Ahmadinejad also may be trying to bolster his support back home ahead of parliamentary elections later this month. They are seen as referendum on the Iranian president, who has come under criticism in his country for spending too much time on anti-Western rhetoric and not enough on Iran's economic problems.

The U.S. has tried to downplay Ahmadinejad's visit. It has said it welcomed Iran's stated policy of promoting stability but that its actions have done just the opposite.

President Bush denied that Ahmadinejad's visit undermined U.S. efforts to isolate Tehran, but had some advice for what al-Maliki should say to the Iranian leader.

"He's a neighbor. And the message needs to be, quit sending in sophisticated equipment that's killing our citizens," Bush said.

In Tehran, Iran Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini criticized Bush.

"His remarks are an intervention in the friendly, brotherly and sincere relations between Iran and Iraq," Hosseini told reporters Sunday after Ahmadinejad left Iran. "Americans do not want the relations to grow."

Ahmadinejad Calls Iraq 'Brotherly' | Iraq Updates

Addax, Kurdistan Amend Taq Taq Production Sharing Agreement

Addax Petroleum Corporation has signed an agreement with the Kurdistan Regional Government ("KRG") amending the production sharing contract it holds together with Genel Enerji in respect of the Taq Taq license area in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The Taq Taq license area includes the Taq Taq field and the Kewa Chirmila prospect. The purpose of the amendments is to bring the Taq Taq PSC into conformity with the Oil and Gas Law of the Kurdistan Region - Iraq and Model PSC, including the royalty, cost recovery and profit share components.

Commenting Feb. 29, Addax Petroleum's President and Chief Executive Officer, Jean Claude Gandur, said: "We are pleased to be working closely and in a spirit of cooperation with our partners at the KRG to arrive at a result that is beneficial to all parties. The new terms of our Taq Taq PSC are now in line with the recently enacted legislation and our stakeholders will be pleased to know that our economic and operational interest is materially unchanged. The results from our appraisal campaign at Taq Taq to date have been extremely positive and we are encouraged by the exploration potential we are uncovering through seismic surveys. We look forward to continued strong relations with the KRG as we seek to implement a full field development program with the potential of first oil as early as next year."

The review and renegotiations were conducted between the KRG, Genel Enerji and Addax Petroleum in accordance with Article 54 of the Oil and Gas Law which required review of the Taq Taq PSC by the Regional Council for the Oil and Gas Affairs of the Kurdistan Region - Iraq (the "Regional Council"), taking into consideration the prevailing conditions when the Taq Taq PSC was originally entered into.

The most significant changes to the terms of the Taq Taq PSC include i) the combination of previously separate terms for the Taq Taq and Kewa Chirmila areas, including the synchronization of the government back-in rights at up to 20 per cent, ii) a reduction in the maximum Cost Oil recoverable in a given year, which is partially offset by an effective increase through an interim period that accelerates the recovery of the initial capital investment by the Contractor, and iii) the introduction of a "R factor" in the Profit Oil calculation, which adjusts the financial returns to the Contractor and Government based on relative level of cumulative capital spending and cumulative revenue.

The ultimate financial impact of the amendments to the terms of the Taq Taq PSC is dependent on operational outcomes, including reserve, production and cost levels. However, the Corporation believes that under most of the likely scenarios and considering the further exploration potential of the PSC area, the amendments do not result in a material change to the financial or operational interests of Addax Petroleum.

Addax, Kurdistan Amend Taq Taq Production Sharing Agreement | Iraq Updates

Choosing Kurdistan Region as a Model for Religious Coexistence

Kurdistan Region President Massoud Barzani met a high ranking delegation from International Peace Messengers Union in Salah ElDin resort, Irbil Province yesterday.

The delegation made a brief presentation of the goals and programs of the Union, which includes academic, political and society figures and owns ambassadors in a large number of countries.

The Union has chosen Kurdistan Region as a model for religious and ethnic coexistence. The Union also introduced to President Barzani a certification for his role in achieving peace and joint coexistence.

President Barzani appreciated this step, and emphasized his support for the goals of the Union.

PUKmedia :: English - Choosing Kurdistan Region as a Model for Religious Coexistence

Iraq and Iran Signs 6 Understanding Memos

A source in Baghdad informed PUKmedia, that both Presidents Jalal Talabani and Mahmud Ahmadinejad held a meeting this afternoon. 6 understanding memos were signed in the meeting by the concerned ministers in the Iraqi and Iranian governments. The understanding memos were in the field of energy, insurance, industrial cooperation, construction of residential sites and transportation.

PUKmedia :: English - Iraq and Iran Signs 6 Understanding Memos