Thread: Archive Latest News - Think Tank - 15/04/08 - 26/08/08

UPDATE:Iraq South Oil Exports Halted On Bad Weather -Shippers

Strong winds have suspended crude oil exports from Iraq's two southern oil terminals near Basra, shipping agents said Tuesday.

"The whole export operations have been suspended," a Middle East shipping agent in the Persian Gulf told Dow Jones Newswires.

Iraq usually exports around 1.6 million barrels a day from Basra and Khor al- Amya oil terminals. Iraq's total exports are around 2 million barrels a day from southern and northern oil fields.

Another shipping agent said the rough weather is expected to continue Tuesday, although he said some weather forecast predict the rough weather would continue until July 10.

A third shipping agent said exports had been suspended since Monday morning.

Company News Story

Iraq : ExxonMobil, Zubair Contract and the Security Issue

The Iraqi Oil Ministry still maintains to sign technical support contracts with major oil companies for some oil fields in northern and southern Iraq.

This comes as ExxonMobil is said to be hesitating to go ahead with its contract for Zubair field for security reasons.

The following 264-word article, published in Iraq Information Report’s issue of June 16, 2008, tells how the technical support contracts proceed and how Oil Minister Hussein Al-Shahrastani is preparing the contracts for signature.

The article also tells whether the Oil Ministry has succeeded in settling the security issue with ExxonMobil and the other concerned companies.

http://www.tacticalreport.com/new/index.php

(I can't bring up the article - I don't have a subscription - still trying to see if I can find it elsewhere)

U.S. companies lagging in Iraq investments

U.S. corporations are holding back from investments in Iraq while Asian and European companies have begun moving in, trade officials said.

Security in Iraq is "starting to turn around and the people who are getting in on the ground floor are not American," Paul Brinkley, a Pentagon official told USA Today.

French, Russian, Romanian and Turkish companies have begun doing business in the country, the report said.

China has also increased its business with Iraq, doubling its exports to the country this year and moving up to third behind Turkey and the United States in trade volume, the newspaper reported.

Brinkley expects foreign investment in Iraq to reach $1 billion in 2008.

"Iraqis need your support. Why let someone else do that?" said Iraqis trade official Naufel al-Hassan, who is stationed in Washington.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari in a visit to Washington said the Russian and Turkish companies in Iraq "take risks."

"No pain, no gain," Zebari said.

LexisNexis News - Latest News from over 4,000 sources, including newspapers, tv transcripts, wire services, magazines, journals.

Iraqi Mminister sees Security Pact settled

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said negotiations involving the U.S. Status of Forces Agreement would be settled by the July 31 deadline.

In an interview in The Wall Street Journal Tuesday, Zebari, a Kurd, credited the development to what he described as "flexibility" from Washington regarding several points of contention with the long-term agreement set to replace the U.N. mandate governing military operations in Iraq, which expires in December.

The foreign minister said U.S. officials withdrew an immunity requirement for U.S. defense contractors from the draft negotiation. The latest revision also strengthens Iraqi authority over future military operations in the country.

Zebari said unresolved issues include the number of U.S. military bases in Iraq and whether or not the U.S. military will have the authority to arrest Iraqi citizens and hold them in U.S. custody.

"These issues are highly politicized in Iraq and highly charged," he said. "I believe a deal is within reach, but we have to be realistic about the obstacles."

A top U.S. official involved in the negotiation told The Journal it was uncertain whether or not remaining issues in the security agreement would be resolved by July 31.

"It's a bit of a crap shoot at this point," the official said. "We're in the same ballpark, but we're not yet on the same field."

LexisNexis News - Latest News from over 4,000 sources, including newspapers, tv transcripts, wire services, magazines, journals.

Update......

Officials say Iraq discussing Natgas JV with Shell

The Iraqi Oil Ministry is negotiating with Royal Dutch Shell over a joint venture to develop natural gas in southern Iraq, two officials said Tuesday.

The head of the Basra Economic Development Committee, Munadhil Abid Khanjar, said that Shell had approached the Oil Ministry last December with its plans and since then meetings have been held outside Iraq.

The latest was nearly two weeks ago in Damascus, Syria, Khanjar said. He said Iraq loses about $40 million worth of natural gas a day associated with oil production, as it is either re-injected into wells or burned. That's because of insufficient infrastructure to export the gas or consume it domestically.

Basra is Iraq's second-largest city and located 550 kilometers (340 miles) southeast of Baghdad. Oil output in southeastern Iraq is around 2 million barrels per day, accounting for about 80 percent of Iraq's total output.

A Shell spokesman, Adam Newton, said he was looking into the report.

A senior official with the Iraqi Oil Ministry in Baghdad said Shell is expected to invest $3 billion to $4 billion in five years to gather at least 500 to 600 million cubic feet a day of flared gas from the southern oil fields.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to release information before the deal is finalized, added the state-run South Gas Co. would control 51 percent in the venture while Shell would hold the remaining 49 percent.

Building liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities could be included.

Earlier this month, Iraq's Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani announced to parliament that Iraq is expected to finalize a deal this summer that would enable the nation to make use of flared associated gas for domestic uses and exports.

The ministry also said it was negotiating with Shell to conduct output tests for the Akkas gas field in western Iraq, with estimated reserves of more than 2.15 trillion cubic feet.

The field, which has five wells that are ready to be interconnected, could produce up to 50 million cubic feet a day as a first stage and could be increased to 500 million cubic feet a day, it said. Gas would be pumped through Syria and Turkey to consumers in Europe.

Iraq has the world's third-largest oil reserves with an estimated 115 billion barrels. It also sits on an estimated 112 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves, according to the ministry.

Santa Barbara News-Press

Joint working groups to conduct studies on investment in Basra

Iraqi-British working groups have been set up to conduct studies on the future of investment in the southern Iraqi province of Basra, a local official source said on Thursday.

"Today, the Advisory Authority on Economic Development in Basra began setting up working groups, which will be assigned to conduct studies on investment strategies and unemployment..," Munadil al-Mayahi told Aswat al-Iraq­-Voices of Iraq-(VOI) by phone.

"The step aims at boosting the economic performance in the province, particularly after several companies and foreign investors expressed their desire to invest in Basra city," al-Mayahi said.

The authority is expected to meet next week with major investment companies to discuss means of attracting investment.

Founded in mid-February 2008 with finance from the United Kingdom, the authority mainly aims at encouraging dialogue with foreign investors and providing strategic consultation to business partners.

The Shiite province of Basra lies 590 km south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad.

Aswat Aliraq

Significant demand for the dollar on Thursday

Demand for the dollar was significantly higher in the Iraqi Central Bank's auction on Thursday, the last this week, reaching $70.220 million compared to $36.55 million yesterday.

"The demand hit $5.150 million in cash and $65.70 million in foreign transfers outside the country, all covered by the bank at a stable exchange rate of 1,197 Iraqi dinars per dollar," according to the central bank's daily bulletin, which was received by Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq - (VOI).

The 15 banks that participated in the auction offered to sell $100,000, which the bank bought at an exchange rate of 1,195 Iraqi dinars per dollar.

The Iraqi Central Bank runs a daily auction from Sunday to Thursday.

Aswat Aliraq

Iraq Nearing Deals with Western Oil Firms

Four western oil companies are close to signing oil contracts with the Iraqi government that will return them to the country for the first time in 36 years, the New York Times reported in its online edition.

ExxonMobil, BP Plc, Royal Dutch Shell and Total, which had partnerships with the Iraq Petroleum Co. before the industry was nationalized by Saddam Hussein, as well as Chevron and a number of smaller oil producers, have been in talks with the oil ministry, the newspaper reported.

PUKmedia :: English - Iraq Nearing Deals with Western Oil Firms

Foreign Minister Meets President George Bush

Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari met with the U.S. President George W. Bush and National Security Adviser Stephen Howley at the White House, the meeting was attended by the Ambassador of Iraq to the United States, Mr Samir Sumaida'ie, and Ambassadors Fared Yassin and Abdel Amir Abu Tbeikh.

President Bush stressed on the United States respect for Iraq's sovereignty and the will of its people and his keenness to help Iraq in confronting the challenges that face its stability and expressed his understanding for the manner of the Iraqi government during the negotiations to conclude the Strategic Framework Agreement and Security Agreement.

Minister Zebari explained the considerations that govern the willingness of Iraq to conclude these agreements and the stage achieved in negotiations and the options available for the parties. The minister expressed satisfaction with the significant improvement in the security situation throughout Iraq and moderation of the political horizon which opens the way for further progress in all levels, therefore these achievements should be maintained and not exposed to danger, by a legal vacuum after the expiration of the Security Council's mandate on the presence of multinational forces. The parties agreed to seek appropriate solutions to the outstanding issues to reach an agreement that meets the immediate needs of the parties and contains sufficient flexibility to leave open choices for the following Governments.

PUKmedia :: English - Foreign Minister Meets President George Bush

EU-Iraq: Negotiations for a Trade and Cooperation Agreement Continue

The European Commission and the Government of Iraq will hold the fifth round of negotiations for a Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) since negotiations started in November 2006.

The fifth round is expected to cover trade in services, sanitary and phyto-sanitary issues, public procurement, intellectual property rights, statistical cooperation, combating *****, organised crime and corruption, money laundering and terrorism financing, migration, regional cooperation, macroeconomic dialogue, investment, financial services cooperation and telecommunications. The negotiations will be led on the Commission’s side by Hugues Mingarelli, Deputy Director-General for External Relations, and Mohammed Hamoud Bidan, Iraqi Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Launched by Commissioners for External Relations and Neighbourhood Policy, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, and Trade, Peter Mandelson, and Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, Barham Salih, in November 2006, the TCA negotiations aim to improve the trade arrangements between Iraq and the EU and to integrate the country in the international economy. The previous rounds of negotiations in June and November 2007 and in February 2008 have been very productive with several chapters already agreed in areas such as combating terrorism, countering proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and energy cooperation, among others.

The TCA negotiations underline the European Union’s determination to play a significant role in Iraq’s transition and to help Iraq improve living conditions for its citizens. This commitment is also reflected in the more than €800 million already contributed by the European Commission towards the reconstruction of Iraq since 2003, with a focus on assisting the Iraqi people in accessing basic services, furthering democracy, and promoting good governance.

PUKmedia :: English - EU-Iraq: Negotiations for a Trade and Cooperation Agreement Continue