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

Iraq urges Arab countries cooperation

Iraq is open to Arab countries which are expected to respond and not stand still, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hosheyar Zebari said. He affirmed that Iraq will urge Arab countries later this month to appoint Arab ambassadors in Baghdad. In an interview with the CNN, Zebari stressed that Iraq will ask from Arab countries to reopen its embassies and diplomatic commissions in the country and extend support to Iraq. He added that Iraq will call on Arab countries to communicate more with Baghdad during the regional ministerial meeting on Iraq due in Kuwait on April 22.

Zebari noted that there is no need for Arab countries to complain about growing Iranian influence in Iraq and criticize the political process as their positions are still. While affirming that Iraq must ask Iran and neighboring countries to stop interfering in its internal affairs, Zebari explained that the decision of Arab countries to establish low level relations with Baghdad is due to reluctance as to grant legitimacy to the US-backed government. He noted that many Arab countries are friends with the United States, however, they rebuke the situation in Iraq and criticize the presence of foreign forces in the country while it doubts the sovereignty and independence of Iraq.

Zebari believed that the necessity for Arab countries action is increasing, as Iraq wants Arabs to have a more efficient presence in the country along with visits on the ministerial and parliamentarian level, not just dispatching Ambassadors therein.

In what may signal the change of Arab stands, Iraqi Foreign Minister declared that he received for the first time an invitation to attend the ministerial meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council due in Bahrain on April 21.

Iraq urges Arab countries cooperation | Iraq News | Alsumaria Iraqi Satellite TV Network

Accordance Ministers’ return to Cabinet is a matter of time

Accordance Front members affirmed that the return of their ministers to Cabinet is just a matter of time. However, members of the Iraqi List revealed that they are willing to return to the government if the latter extends a formal apology to head of Iraqi List Iyad Allawi.

Accordance Ministers’ return to Cabinet is a matter of time | Iraq News | Alsumaria Iraqi Satellite TV Network

Update.......

Secret arm deal between Iraq and Serbia

In response to reports by the New York Times Newspaper saying that the Iraqi Government has secretly negotiated on an arms deal with Serbia in attempt to circumvent anti-corruption provisions, Defense Ministry official spokesman Brigadier Mohammed Al Askari said that the arms deal contracted between Iraq and Serbia was a transparent deal in line with regulations of the Finance and Planning Ministry as well as the economic committee. General Director of the largest public arms export company in Serbia Stevan Nikcevic denied having secretly negotiated an arms deal with Iraq affirming that all Iraqi officials were acquainted with all the contracts that have been concluded.

Secret arm deal between Iraq and Serbia | Iraq News | Alsumaria Iraqi Satellite TV Network

Iraq qualifies S. Korean Firms to Develop Oil, Gas

Iraq has qualified a South Korean consortium to take part in future oil and gas production projects within its borders, but banned other companies seeking to tap resources in Kurdistan, South Korean media reported Monday.

The consortium, consisting of state-run Korea Gas Corp. (KOGAS), LG Corp. and Daewoo International, has passed the so-called prequalification review process set by the Iraqi government, the officials at the Ministry of Knowledge Economy told Yonhap News Agency. Of the 120 total applicants, only 35 companies and consortia were accepted, including Chevron Corp., Exxon Mobil Corp., Royal Dutch Shell PLC and China National Petroleum, the report said.

However, the state-run Korea National Oil Corp. (KNOC) and SK Corp. were left out in accordance with Baghdad's current stance not allow independent development of oil and gas in the northern autonomous region without prior consent from the central government, it said. KNOC and SK said earlier in the year that they have secured development rights to four oil fields in northern Iraq that may hold 1-2 billion barrels of untapped crude, which is enough to supply South Korea with oil for up to two years.

The review only applies to oil and gas fields in advanced stages of development and in production, and not to those that require exploration, the report said, adding that if Baghdad and Kurdistan authorities in Irbil resolve their differences, further opportunities for local companies may grow. South Korea, with its heavy industrial base, is the fifth-largest oil importer and seventh-largest consuming nation in the world.

كونا : Iraq qualifies S. Korean firms to develop oil, gas - الشؤون الإقتصادية - 14/04/2008

OVL qualifies for Oil, Gas Contracts in Iraq

NEW DELHI: ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas arm of state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp, on Monday qualified to bid for oil and gas contracts in Iraq to develop one of the world's largest oil fields, a company official said.

OVL is the only Indian company in the list of 35 firms that the Iraqi government, headed by Nouri al-Maliki, has found to be eligible for bidding for the contracts, the official said.

The list contains four Chinese firms, CNOOC, CNPC, Sinochem and Sinopic Group. It also names seven energy majors from US, including Chevron, Conoco Phillips, Exxonmobil, Marathon and Occidenal Petroleum.

Reliance Industries had not participated in the qualification round after Baghdad threatened to blacklist the firm for signing contracts for two oil blocks with Kurdistan Regional Government.

BG Group of UK, Eni of Italy, Inpex of Japan, Kogas of Korea, Lukoil of Russia, BHP Billiton and Woodside of Australia, Mitsubishi Corp of Jpana, Petronas of Malaysia, Pertamina of Indonesia, Repsol of Spain, Shell, Statoil Hydro of Norway, and Total of France were also among the qualified companies.

The official said in all 120 companies had sought to pre-qualify for the first Iraqi licensing round after the fall of the Saddam Hussein regime.

OVL already has license for Block 8 in Iraq and as such was qualified even before the announcement by the Iraqi Oil Ministry today.

It had also stitched a consortia with Reliance Industries and Sonatrach of Algeria for the Tuba oilfield. Though Tuba oilfield was awarded by the Saddam Hussein regime to OVL-Reliance-Sonatrach, the new US-backed regime did not accept the award.

OVL qualifies for oil, gas contracts in Iraq- Oil & Gas-Energy-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times

Iraq To Hold Energy Expo, Conference In October - Oil Min

Iraq's Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani Monday invited international oil companies to take part in the ministry's energy exhibition and conference Oct. 17-19, the first such event in years.

"On behalf of the government of Iraq and the Ministry of Oil, we would like to invite al international oil companies to participate in this historic event," al-Shahristani said in a statement posted in the oil ministry's Web site.

It said the exhibition and conference would be held at Baghdad Convention center at Baghdad International Airport.

This is the first time in years Iraq has held an energy exhibition and conference.

Iraq announced Sunday names of 35 international oil companies qualified to bid for future oil and gas contracts to develop one of the world's largest oil fields, an Iraqi oil ministry statement said.

Company News Story

UPDATE 2-Iraq to request bids for oil contracts soon

Iraq will invite 35 international oil companies to bid for oil and gas service
contracts soon, an oil ministry spokesman said on Monday.

Iraq holds the world's third-largest oil reserves and needs billions of dollars of investment to overhaul energy in frastructure and boost oil and gas output after years of sanctions and war.

"The ministry will declare the first round of bidding in the coming period," Asim Jihad told Reuters.

"The oil ministry is acting urgently to develop oil fields and increase crude production."

Fields from all regions of Iraq would be offered in the first round, he said, declining to give specific details. Oil is Iraq's main source of income, and boosting output is key to earning the cash the country needs for reconstruction.

Iraq produces around 2.3 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil, a fraction of its 115 billion barrels of proven crude reserves. Iraq published a list of 35 companies on Monday that it said were qualified to bid in the first licensing round on its Website MINISTRY OF OIL.

Companies that failed to qualify for the first round could still qualify for the second and later rounds, Jihad said. Some 120 companies submitted paperwork for qualification.

The oil ministry did not list those that failed to qualify.

Oil majors BP, Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell and Total all qualified, according to the list. The majors have been positioning themselves for years in the hope of eventually gaining access to Iraq's abundant reserves.

Iraq is already negotiating separate deals with those companies for two-year oil service contracts at some of the biggest fields that aim to boost the country's oil output by 500,000 bpd.

Oil majors will be involved in a role as project managers of the fields, supervising work by Iraqi operating companies. In security in the country stops them from sending in their own ground staff. None of the companies that have done deals with the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq were on the list.

Baghdad claims the deals were illegal and had said that it would bar companies that had signed contracts with the Kurdish region from oil deals in the rest of the country.

Political disputes between the Kurdish region and Baghdad have delayed a vital oil law from being presented to parliament for over a year. As a stop-gap measure, Iraq plans to award short-term oil extraction and service contracts to help boost production.

The following is the full list of companies Iraq's oil ministry has declared qualified to bid: Anadarko Iraq, Marathon International, BG International, Mitsibushi Corp, BHP Billiton, Nexen, BP, Nippon Oil, Chevron Iraq, Occidental Petroleum, CNOOC China, ONGC, CNPC, Petronas, Conoco Phillips, Pertamina, Edison International, Premier, ENI, Repsol, Exxon Mobil, Shell Iraq, Hess Corporation, Sinochem, Inpex Holding, Sinopec, Japex, Statoil Hydro, JSC Gazprom Neft, Total, Kogas, Wintershall BASF Group, Lukoil, Woodside, Maersk.

UPDATE 2-Iraq to request bids for oil contracts soon | Industries | Energy | Reuters&

Kidnapped CBS Reporter freed in Iraq

British journalist working with the US television network CBS who was abducted in the southern Iraqi city of Basra was freed Monday, media reports said. Mohamed al-Askary, spokesman for Iraq's Defence Ministry, said that Iraqi forces released the British reporter, who was kidnapped in Basra in February, the official al-Iraqiya news channel reported.

Earlier, a member of a Shiite group involved in negotiations for the reporter's release said he was in a good health.

"We are not worried about the health of the British journalist. He is in good health, and negotiations to free him are continuing, and we hope they will be concluded today with his release," a member of the Office of the Martyr al-Sadr told Deutsche Presse-Agentur.

EXTRA: Kidnapped CBS reporter freed in Iraq : Middle East World

A splinter Shiite group rejects handing weapons to government forces

A chief of a renegade group of Mahdi army militia loyal to the Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr reiterated on Monday their rejection to handing heavy weapons over to government forces, noting his movement arms would be “stashed to fight the occupier.”

“The movement would not surrender heavy arms to security forces,” Sheikh Abdullah al-Ashmani, chief of 17/3 movement, a splinter group of Mahdi army militia, told Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq - (VOI) over the phone.

17/3, or March 17, is a breakaway Shiite group from the Mahdi army militias loyal to anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in Basra, taking the date of March 17, the first day of the Shiite uprising against the former regime of Saddam Hussein in 1991, as a name.

He pledged to use the arms “only against the occupier,” and “not against Iraqi forces,” accounting the reason for fear of "increasing Iraqi widows and bereaved mothers.”

The group's chief referred to tips-off provided by “followers in Basra’s local government and parties participating in the political process about the movements of security forces in the city.”

Last month, the Iraqi government announced a cash-for-weapons plan to disarm militants in Basra and set April 10 as an ultimatum. Security forces have started house-to house searches in different parts of the southern port city since Thursday.

Three weeks ago, Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki launched a major crackdown on militants in Basra dubbed as Saulat al-Fursan (Knights’ Assault). The operation pitted Iraqi forces against militiamen loyal to Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. The heavy fighting spread to Baghdad and major southern cities, claiming the lives of more than 400 people.

Aswat Aliraq