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

Iraq resumes pumping 400,000 barrels a day from Kirkuk oil into Turkey

A source from northern oil company told Reuters that Iraq has resumed pumping 400,000 barrels a day from Kirkuk oil through the northern pipeline into Turkey after less than a day of interruption. An official who spoke on condition of anonymity affirmed that oil flow has stopped on Thursday because Iraqi oil stocks in Turkish Ceyhan port have reached a record high. He added that oil pumping is interrupted to protect pipelines from sabotage, affirming the possibility of increasing pumping to 450,000 barrels a day.

Alsumaria Iraqi Satellite TV Network | Economics News | Iraq resumes pumping 400,000 barrels a day from Kirkuk oil into Turkey

UPDATE: Iraq Signed $558.3M Oil, Gas Contracts In 2007 - Government

The Iraqi government in Baghdad signed some $558.3 million worth of contracts with international companies to upgrade its downstream and upstream oil facilities in 2007, the Iraqi oil ministry said on its Web site.

The oil ministry also said only 18.5% of the money allocated by the national budget as capital investment in the oil and gas sector was spent between January and the end of October 2007.

The ten contracts listed by the ministry covered work to upgrade Baghdad and Basra refineries, drilling and rehabilitation of 180 wells in West Qurana and North Rumaila oil fields in southern Iraq, the site said.

The value of the two contracts to upgrade Baghdad and Basra refineries were $ 133 million, it said. Contracts to drill new wells and rehabilitate others were valued at $115 million.

The site made no mention of the companies involved in these contracts.

It said a contract worth $128.5 million was signed with a company or companies to prepare designs for a planned 300,000 barrel a day refinery in Nassiriya in southern Iraq. It didn't, however, name the company or companies involved.

A $65 million contract was signed to purchase three oil tankers for the Basra- based Iraqi oil tankers company.

It said an $80 million contract was signed to develop the Kormor gas field in Salahuddin province, northeast of Baghdad, which has estimated reserves of 50 billion cubic meters. An Iraqi oil expert said the contract was signed with an Indian company, without naming it.

The Kurdistan Regional Government in Arbil said last year it had signed a contract with Dana Gas to develop Kormor gas filed. The field is situated in territories disputed with the semiautonomous Kurdish authority in northern Iraq.

The ministry site said it had made 85% to 95% progress in projects to develop Tuba, West Qurana and Ratawi oil fields in southern Iraq. It didn't say how much production would be increased after development.

Iraq's crude oil production over the last four months increased to around 2.3 million barrels a day from around 1.9 million barrels a day at the beginning of 2007. The increase came after Iraq managed to protect its northern oil export pipeline which was idle for most of the time since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003 until the end of August 2007.

Baghdad has allocated an additional $2 billion for the oil sector as capital investment in 2008. The budget is still under debate by the Iraqi parliament.

Iraq is intending to open tenders soon to develop around seven oil fields in the south, north and center of the country, Iraqi oil officials said. The oil ministry last week set a Jan. 31 deadline for international oil firms to register to compete for these tenders.

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Iraq oil workers: New labor law needed

Iraq's top oil workers' union has asked for action on a draft labor law, as called for in the constitution, in a letter to Iraq's labor minister.

This marks the year's first movement by workers in Iraq's most important sector to demand better working conditions; demands led to upheaval throughout 2007.

The Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions asked the Iraqi government, in the letter to Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Mahmud Muhammad Jawad al-Radi, to comply with the 2005 Constitution which called for a new labor law upholding the rights of workers to unionize.

A new labor law is one of the key demands of all of Iraq's unions. Despite the constitution calling for it, Iraqi legislators have not moved it forward. It also has not been given any urgency by the U.S. government, which provides both behind-the-scenes and public pressure on Iraq's government over laws it wants approved.

"After the collapse of the former regime, a group of labor activists reestablished the oil trade union in the oil companies in order to maintain the production and safeguard the employees' rights," IFOU President Hassan Jumaa Awad wrote in the letter, in which he explained the formation of the unions was done using international standards and under international supervision. He also called for "multiple federations and unions to cover various professions and industries," as a way to avoid the top-down structure of Saddam Hussein.

U.S. Labor Against the War, a coalition of top U.S. unions supporting Iraq's workers, issued a statement and an English translation of the IFOU letter.

"Iraq is a signatory to the (International Labor Organization) conventions … governing the right to organize, bargain and strike," the statement said.

"Saddam Hussein in 1987 instituted a law that banned all unions in public enterprises (most of the Iraqi economy. He established his own government-dominated labor federation that served as an instrument for controlling workers … the U.S. occupation authorities continued to enforce Saddam's law regarding labor rights," as have all subsequent governments in Iraq, the statement added.

The IFOU is an umbrella group representing tens of thousands of Iraq's oil workers. Most of the workers are in the oil capital of Basra, in the south, but workers have started organizing in other areas of the south and the north.

Last year Iraq's oil workers threatened and actually stopped production numerous times as it raised demands of improved working conditions and complaints over the draft oil law. At one point Iraqi forces surrounded the workers and arrest warrants were issued for leaders. Iraq's Oil Ministry officially banned communication with the unions.

Iraq's electricity, teachers and healthcare workers have also voiced complaints.

International Security - Energy - Briefing - UPI.com

Turkish FM: U.S. launched war for Iraq

Turkey's finance minister says the United States is "after the oil" in Iraq, joining other high-profile officials making the assertion recently.

"The guy from miles away is invading Iraq claiming to put an end to the unfair system," Kemal Unakitan said, referring to U.S. President George W. Bush, the Anka News Agency reports. "But everyone knows they are after the oil. All the rest is just made up stories."

The White House, when asked if this changed U.S.-Turkish relations, declined to comment.

Unakitan's statements last week in Istanbul at an event sponsored by the Turkish business group MUSIAD came while Turkish President Abdullah Gul was meeting with Bush.

A senior Bush administration official said after the meetings that the two sides agreed to work together further on Iraq issues, such as the controversial oil-rich city of Kirkuk and the threat from Kurdish separatists.

Unakitan, however, was blunt in his criticism of the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

"He brings his army forces in the name of bringing freedom and nobody objects. Indeed they support saying that they also were contributing to the peace efforts," he said. "What peace efforts? You all are coming there for your sake, for oil."

Former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan caused an uproar after the September release of his book "The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World."

"I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: The Iraq war is largely about oil," Greenspan wrote.

The Bush administration denied such motives and both it and Greenspan watered down the rhetoric in subsequent media accounts.

Two months later, Hans Blix, the former chief of U.N. inspections of alleged weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, weighed in on Australia's ABC radio.

"One fear I would have is that the U.S. has a hidden thought to remain in Iraq," said Blix, the former chief of the U.N. inspection team looking for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

"One reason why they wanted in was that they felt they must leave Saudi Arabia. After the Gulf War in 1991, they left their troops in Saudi Arabia to protect pipelines," he said. "And when they felt they could no longer stay in Saudi Arabia, Iraq was the next best place because it was more secularized than Saudi Arabia and had the second biggest oil reserves in the region."

According to the U.S. Energy Department's data arm, the Energy Information Administration, Iraq has the world's third-largest oil reserves at 115 billion barrels. But Iraq is mostly unexplored, and experts believe there's at least twice as much oil to be found.

International Security - Energy - Briefing - UPI.com

Iraq political fight over Kurd oil deals

An Iraq Oil Ministry spokesman says firms that deal with Kurds will be kept out, while a Kurdish parliamentarian calls for the minister's job.

The back-and-forth is the latest in an oil dispute between the Kurdish and central governments over who has the right to set oil policy.

Leaders of Sunni and Shiite Arab political blocs have also made a pact against the Kurds' attempt to fold oil-rich Kirkuk into the official Kurdistan Regional Government territory.

Last week the national Oil Ministry announced a Jan. 31 deadline for companies interested in oil deals Iraq to pre-register.

"The Oil Ministry would not allow international corporations that already signed oil contracts with the government of Iraqi Kurdistan to invest in Iraq," Assem Jihad told the Voices of Iraq news agency.

The KRG has passed its own regional oil law and signed dozens of exploration and production contracts with foreign firms. The Kurdistan and national governments disagree on a national oil law that would govern the country's reserves.

The KRG wants a decentralized law, allowing producing regions and provinces to strike deals. Others want oil policy to be set and carried out from Baghdad. Each claims the constitution is on their side and blames the other for stalling the law.

The KRG has little of Iraq's proven reserves but expect to find sizeable amounts. KRG Natural Resources Minister Ashti Hawrami has set medium-term production target of 1 million barrels per day.

The Ministry has called the KRG deals illegal and threatened to blacklist any companies. It notified a South Korean refiner to choose between continued sales of Iraq oil or moving forward as part of a consortium in a KRG deal.

"The Kurdistan Coalition will have to call for changing (Oil Minister Hussain al-)Shahristani if he insists on his position," a Kurdish member of Iraq's Parliament told VOI. The KC is the second largest block in Parliament and is a key member of the current ruling coalition.

Azzaman newspaper reports disaffected political parties, including the Iraqi List, National Dialouge Front, Accord Front and Sadr Movement, signed a memorandum of understanding against the Kurds' oil deals.

It also criticized a plan for the oil-rich northern Kirkuk to be made part of the KRG area.

International Security - Energy - Briefing - UPI.com

Syria and Iraq to rehabilitate Kirkok-Banias oil Pipeline

Syria and Iraq on Monday agreed to rehabilitate Kirkok-Banias oil pipeline, encouraging comp****t engineering companies to offer tenders for establishing tanks to exchange oil products in the border region of al-Yarubya.

Deputy Premier for Economic affairs Abdullah Dardari and his Iraqi counterpart Barham Salih signed the minutes of meetings covering cooperation between Syria and Iraq in the fields of transport, oil, gas, banks, infrastructure, technology and communications.

The oil pipeline will transport crude oil from the Iraqi city of Kirkok crossing Syrian lands into the coastal city of Banias on the Mediterranean, to be exported abroad.

Syrian Minister of Interior and his Iraqi counterpart Jawad al-Boulani also signed the minutes of their meetings on security understanding between both countries.

The minutes of Syrian-Iraqi meetings stipulates for activating the work of joint ministerial committee mentioned in a cooperation agreement signed between Syria and Iraq on economy, trade, education, technology and culture.

The two sides underlined the importance of announcing establishment of a Syrian-Iraqi businessmen council during the next meetings of the committee due in Feb 2008 and make use of the rules of an agreement on protecting and encouraging investments between the two states.

Syrian public constructional companies will contribute to rebuilding Iraq, putting executive mechanisms to establish a joint company for infrastructure in Iraq in addition to activate cooperation in the fields of communication and technology.

During a press conference following the signing ceremony, Dardari and Salih underlined the importance of enhancing economic and trade cooperation, activating agreements signed between Syria and Iraq in addition to continuing security cooperation.

Syrian Arab news agency - SANA - Syria ::

'Quick withdrawal' from Iraq by US 'would be disastrous'

An early pullout of US troops would spark a return of sectarian violence and be "disastrous" for Iraq, a tribal leader fighting Al-Qaeda in a province once fiercely anti-American told AFP late Sunday. Sheikh Ahmed Abu Reesha, leader of the "Anbar Awakening" that has ended much of Al-Qaeda's hold over western Iraq, warned that the security situation was still fragile.

"Any quick withdrawal would be disastrous because the Iraqi Army is incapable of taking over," he said. "Any withdrawal must happen only when the Iraqi Army is 100 percent ready to protect the country."
"The government and the country cannot afford to be without help from the Americans," he added.

Sheikh Ahmed took over as head of the Anbar Awakening in September after the asassination of his brother, Sheikh Abdul Sattar Abu Reesha, the pioneer of the groups that switched allegiance from Al-Qaeda to the US.

The movement has been a prime factor behind a sharp drop in violence across Anbar, and especially in its capital Ramadi, which was reduced to ruins as US forces battled with Iraqi nationalists and tribes allied with Al-Qaeda. Over the past year, attacks in Ramadi have dropped from 25-30 a day to fewer than one a week, and the numbers of roadside bombs have declined by 90 percent, according to latest US military figures.

Sheikh Ahmed, speaking to AFP at his residence Sunday evening, paid a heartfelt tribute to his brother. "I remember my brother as someone who dared, when no one else would, to stand up and say that Al-Qaeda are criminals," he said. "Before, people would not even say such things in a private room among friends."

'Quick withdrawal' from Iraq by US 'would be disastrous' | Iraq Updates

Iraq directs letter to Iran for resuming Talks on Iraq-Iran Border Pact

According to news posted on MehrNews website, the Iraqi ambassador to Iran, Muhammad Majeed, announced that the Iraqi foreign ministry directed a letter to the Iranian government, calling for setting a date to meet both countries’ delegations to discuss the Iraq-Iran Border Pact signed in 1975.

“In the letter the Iranian government was called to set a date till 15th January for meeting with the Iraqi delegation, while the Iranian government has not sent response so far which the Iraqi government is waiting for.” The ambassador stated.

PUKmedia :: English - Iraq directs letter to Iran for resuming Talks on Iraq-Iran Border Pact

Rice in Iraq to Press Reforms

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Iraq on a surprise visit Tuesday to press for more progress on political reconciliation.

Her trip was announced in Saudi Arabia as President Bush was holding talks with Saudi officials.

"President Bush and Secretary Rice decided this would be a good opportunity for the secretary to go to Baghdad to meet with Iraqi officials to build on progress made and to encourage additional political reconciliation and legislative action," National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.

He said she would return to Riyadh Tuesday night.

On Saturday, Bush had commended Iraq's parliament for passing legislation reinstating thousands of former supporters of Saddam Hussein's now-dissolved Baath party to government jobs.

"It's an important step toward reconciliation," Bush said then, after more than a year of prodding by the United States for action on the legislation.

"It's an important sign that the leaders of that country understand that they must work together to meet the aspirations of the Iraqi people."
At the same time, Bush said more progress was needed.

There was no advance announcement of Rice's trip. In fact, there had been talk that she would hold a news conference here Tuesday with Saudi Arabia's foreign minister.

PUKmedia :: English - Rice in Iraq to Press Reforms

Raed Fahmi Asserts the Possibility of Making a Referendum on Article 140

Raed Fahmi, the head of Article 140 Committee of the Iraqi Constitution concerning normalization in Kirkuk Province and other disputed areas, said that the Committee discussed in its meeting on Thursday a number of reports concerning the above mentioned Article.

The Committee will take practical steps to implement Article 140 and solve the issue of immigrants to Kirkuk and the displaced people, during the postponed period which is 6 months, Raed Fahmi added.

The Committee asked the Prime Ministry to demand officially The Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq to take practical steps to carry out the referendum on Article 140 in Kirkuk, Raed Fahmi clarified.

It’s worth mentioning that Article 140 was supposed to be implemented in December31, 2007, at the suggestion of the UN and the consent of the Iraqi Political Sides it was postponed for another 6 months.

PUKmedia :: English - Raed Fahmi Asserts the Possibility of Making a Referendum on Article 140