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

Iraq opens door to foreign contracts at major oil fields

Foreign oil companies are poised to enter Iraq later this month after Baghdad signalled it was prepared to sign five oil field services agreements covering its biggest fields.

Five years since the US and Britain toppled Saddam Hussein's dictatorship, there have been few forays by oil's major players into Iraq, even though the country accounts for almost 10pc of world reserves.

A violent insurgency forced most oil companies to keep executives responsible for Iraq outside the country. Most are based in the Gulf.

Despite lack of foreign involvement in oil production, Iraq has returned to pre-war export levels of 2.5m barrels a day.

The two-year service contracts that have been negotiated would see British, American and Australian oil companies supply equipment and expertise that would boost output by hundreds of thousands of barrels at each field.

"I expect the oil companies will get their first deals in Iraq before the end of the month," said a British official. "The Iraqi government has said it's ready to do the deal. For the big oil companies it's not so much security that's the stumbling block now, it's the legal framework. This is the development that starts the ball rolling."

The five deals will cover Kirkuk, Missan, West Qurna, Zubair and Rumaila oil fields and have a face value of £1.5bn, though reimbursement will be satisfied in barrels.

"In this politically sensitive and difficult situation, service contracts are a pragmatic step forward for Iraq," said Steve Peacock, head of exploration and production for BP in the Middle East.

BP's contract, which is substantially negotiated, would involve the British firm providing project management, technical services and parts supplies to the North and South Rumaila fields.

The measures are described as a stopgap until Iraq's parliament ratifies a long-delayed oil law to allow foreign firms an exploration and production role in Iraq for the first time since the industry was nationalised in the 1970s.

While the security situation has prevented the large oil companies establishing a presence in Iraq, Mr Peacock said there had been extensive mapping of its resources. "We've studied the whole of the rest of the country, so we're waiting for what comes next after the service agreements.

"We have an opinion on which bits we'd be more interested in. Whether it gets linked into the contract or not - it's a natural question that's on the table," added Mr Peacock. "These contracts are valid for a couple of years; how does that link with what comes next?"

Royal Dutch Shell is set to emerge with interests in Kirkuk, Iraq's biggest field, discovered in 1927, and Missan, which it will serve in joint venture with the Australian miner BHP. The remaining contracts will go to Chevron, Exxon Mobil and Total.

Oil experts estimate that Iraq can reach a geologic potential of 10m barrels a day with substantial foreign investment. But its achieved output is likely to rest on security improvements and nationalist resistance to foreign involvement.

Iraq opens door to foreign contracts at major oil fields - Telegraph

Slowly but surely it's staaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrting

U.S. Checking possibility of pumping oil from northern Iraq to Haifa, via Jordan

The United States has asked Israel to check the possibility of pumping oil from Iraq to the oil refineries in Haifa. The request came in a telegram last week from a senior Pentagon official to a top Foreign Ministry official in Jerusalem.

The Prime Minister's Office, which views the pipeline to Haifa as a "bonus" the U.S. could give to Israel in return for its unequivocal support for the American-led campaign in Iraq, had asked the Americans for the official telegram.

The new pipeline would take oil from the Kirkuk area, where some 40 percent of Iraqi oil is produced, and transport it via Mosul, and then across Jordan to Israel. The U.S. telegram included a request for a cost estimate for repairing the Mosul-Haifa pipeline that was in use prior to 1948. During the War of Independence, the Iraqis stopped the flow of oil to Haifa and the pipeline fell into disrepair over the years.

The National Infrastructure Ministry has recently conducted research indicating that construction of a 42-inch diameter pipeline between Kirkuk and Haifa would cost about $400,000 per kilometer. The old Mosul-Haifa pipeline was only 8 inches in diameter.

National Infrastructure Minister Yosef Paritzky said yesterday that the port of Haifa is an attractive destination for Iraqi oil and that he plans to discuss this matter with the U.S. secretary of energy during his planned visit to Washington next month. Paritzky added that the plan depends on Jordan's consent and that Jordan would receive a transit fee for allowing the oil to piped through its territory. The minister noted, however, that "due to pan-Arab concerns, it will be hard for the Jordanians to agree to the flow of Iraqi oil via Jordan and Israel."

Sources in Jerusalem confirmed yesterday that the Americans are looking into the possibility of laying a new pipeline via Jordan and Israel. (There is also a pipeline running via Syria that has not been used in some three decades.)

Iraqi oil is now being transported via Turkey to a small Mediterranean port near the Syrian border. The transit fee collected by Turkey is an important source of revenue for the country. This line has been damaged by sabotage twice in recent weeks and is presently out of service.

In response to rumors about the possible Kirkuk-Mosul-Haifa pipeline, Turkey has warned Israel that it would regard this development as a serious blow to Turkish-Israeli relations.

Sources in Jerusalem suggest that the American hints about the alternative pipeline are part of an attempt to apply pressure on Turkey.

Iraq is one of the world's largest oil producers, with the potential of reaching about 2.5 million barrels a day. Oil experts were halted after the Gulf War in 1991 and then were allowed again on a limited basis (1.5 million barrels per day to finance the import of food and medicines. Iraq is currently exporting several hundred thousand barrels of oil per day.

During his visit to Washington in about two weeks, Paritzky also plans to discuss the possibility of U.S. and international assistance for joint Israeli-Palestinian projects in the areas of energy and infrastructure, natural gas, desalination and electricity.

U.S. checking possibility of pumping oil from northern Iraq to Haifa, via Jordan - Haaretz - Israel News

Just discovered this article is from February - so it's a couple of months old. Interesting news though.

Meeting of Iraq Neighboring Countries Affirms Integrity and Sovereignty of Iraq

Participants in the Security Coordination and Cooperation Committee of Iraq's Neighboring Countries meeting affirmed on Monday the importance of respecting the integrity, sovereignty and independence of Iraq and preserving its Arab and Islamic identity.

In a press statement issued at the closing of the meeting, participants underlined the positive cooperation between Iraq and neighboring countries in counter-terrorism, praising the Iraqi government's efforts in that regard.

They stressed the importance of achieving national reconciliation in Iraq, calling for the Arab League to continue its efforts. They also thanked Syria for hosting the meeting and facilitating its success and for its efforts in controlling borders with Iraq.

Participants agreed to present their recommendations to the meeting of Iraq's neighboring countries' Foreign Ministers which will be held in Kuwait on April 22nd and the similar meeting of Interior Ministers which will be held later in Jordan.

The meeting, which was co-chaired by Syrian Assistant Foreign Minister Ahmad Arnous and Under Secretary of the Iraqi Foreign Ministry Labaid Abawi, discussed for two days means to improve cooperation between Iraq and neighboring countries, with the participation of representatives from Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, Iran, Turkey, Egypt, Bahrain, the Arab League, the Organization of Islamic Conference, the five permanent member-countries at the UN Security Council, the G8, the EU, and the UN.

Meeting of Iraq Neighboring Countries Affirms Integrity and Sovereignty of Iraq | Iraq Updates

Decision of Security Elements Disbandment is Final: Source

A security source in Basrah Operation Room exclusively told PUKmedia on condition of anonymity:” The decision of disbanding the security Elements who disobeyed the orders and refused to fight when clashes broke out in Basrah is final.”

“The decision also rules that they must be submitted to the judicial authorities”, he added.

This Confirmation comes after Muqtada al-Sadr’s demanding the Iraqi Government to reinstate all the sacked security forces who are more than 1300 soldiers and policemen.

PUKmedia :: English - Decision of Security Elements Disbandment is Final: Source

Imad Ahmed to PUKmedia “We are Determined to Implement Article 140”

Imad Ahmed member of the KRG delegation to Baghdad told PUKmedia on Tuesday that the delegation of the KRG in Baghdad has discussed the Iraqi oil and gas draft law, the draft law of the Iraqi oil ministry, the draft law distributing Iraqi natural recourses, the draft law of the Iraqi national oil companies and we will continue in our discussions so that the laws might be compatible with the Iraqi permanent constitution.


The draft laws after being prepared they will be sent to the Iraqi parliament, Ahmed added.

Concerning the pended issues between the KRG and the Iraqi federal government he said “In the meetings the issue of the budget of the Kurdistan region Peshmerga forces has been discussed and there is some understanding, but they are not settled yet.”

Regarding the article 140 of the Iraqi constitution he said “We are determined to Implement Article 140 and the Iraqi side does not deny its implementation. They say article 140 is a constitutional one and it should be implemented.

PUKmedia :: English - Imad Ahmed to PUKmedia “We are Determined to Implement Article 140”

ISX opens with two contracts of 743,445 shares

The Iraqi Stock Exchange (ISX) opened its session on Tuesday with an Iraqi contract of 250,000 shares at a value of 0.900 Iraqi dinar (1 U.S. dollar =1,222 Iraqi dinars) per share.

The contract was concluded by an Iraqi company, which bought the shares from the Islamic Bank.

Another contract was concluded by a foreign company, which bought 493,445 shares from the Iraqi Company for Packaging Materials at a value of 1.700 Iraqi dinars per share.

The Iraqi Stock Exchange holds three sessions a week: Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday.

http://www.aswataliraq.info/look/english/article.tpl?IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=4&NrArticle=76416&NrIss ue=2&NrSection=2

ISX index rises by 1.029%, closes at 37.280

Iraq's Stock Exchange (ISX) index increased by 0.078 percent to settle at 36.980 points at Tuesday’s session.

Shares of 41 companies were traded during today's session, where 1.266 billion shares were transacted at a value of over 1.486 billion dinars (1$ equals 1221 dinars) achieved through the implementation of 235 contracts.

The industrial sector achieved the highest circulation in terms of the number of shares traded, as well as in terms of trading volume.

Non-Iraqi investors participated in today's session through the implementation of 31 contracts in the banking, services, and industry sectors. The traded shares reached more than 51 million, valued at over 61 million dinars.

According to the daily analysis of the capital market, the banking sector's index, in which 15 companies traded, closed at 37.8 points, while the industrial sector, in which 16 companies traded, ended at 11.475 points.

The statement concluded that 41 companies were traded in Thursday's session out of 94 companies registered in Iraq's stock exchange, of which 14 indexes went up, 4 dropped, and 23 maintained their previous price.

Aswat Aliraq

Participation in strategic decisions precondition for return to govt. – Fadhila

The Shiite Fadhila (Virtue) Party raised a precondition of participation in strategic decisions in order to return to the Iraqi government lineup, a key party member said on Tuesday.

"The party has received some oral calls from the prime minister and the president and it agreed on condition that the government adopts the principle of participation in strategic decisions," Bassem Sherif told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq – (VOI).

The incumbent government, formed by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in April 2006, has been weakened after influential political blocs quit it over different periods of time.

The Sunni Iraqi Accordance Front (IAF) withdrew its five ministers and deputy premier, former premier Iyad Allawi's Iraqi National List (INL) its five ministers and the Sadrist bloc, or Iraqi loyal to Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr, its six ministers.

"The party has forwarded other proposals for improving the government's performance like the adoption of new criteria away from the sectarian quota system," Sherif said, noting he was promised by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani to have these proposals studied during the next meeting of the Political Council on National Security.

Talabani, during a press conference last week, had urged the blocs that quit the Maliki government to return, adding that he would contact "the brothers in Fadhila to encourage them to re-join the government."

The Fadhila, which occupies 15 out of a total 275 seats in the Iraqi parliament as part of the Shiite Unified Iraqi Coalition (UIC), had quit the Maliki government in March 2007 and is now working independently.

Aswat Aliraq

PM leaves with delegation to Brussels

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki flew on Tuesday at the head of a government delegation for the Belgian capital Brussels, a cabinet media source said.

"Maliki is accompanied by a number of ministers, including Minister of Oil Hussein al-Shahrestani, as well as government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh. The prime minister is visiting Brussels at the invitation of the European Commission chief to visit the European Union (EU) institutions and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)," the source, who did not want his name mentioned, told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq – (VOI).

The source did not give further details.

Dabbagh had said on Sunday that Maliki would head for Brussels leading a delegation of political, security and oil officials for talks with the EU president and members to strengthen political, military and economic relations.

"During the visit, a contract would be signed between Iraq and EU states to invest gas in Iraq," he said.

Aswat Aliraq

Zain launches “One Network” service

- Zain Iraq Executive Chief Ali Al Dahwi announced in a press conference that the company launched its new service known as ‘One Network’ that would connect Zain customers and would facilitate calls between them in the countries where the company operates.

- The Fifth International Fair for Iraq Reconstruction was inaugurated in Jordan Yesterday under the patronage of Zain Iraq Company.

- Public Taxes Committee in Finance Ministry issued today a new law that stipulates to annul the monthly wage cuts from State employees and that in order to help the employees and to relief them from a part of their burdens.

Zain launches “one Network� service | Economics News | Alsumaria Iraqi Satellite TV Network