Thread: Archive - Latest News Think Tank - 15/01/09 - 04/05/09

Big oil must start work fast in Iraq or lose deals

International oil companies will lose contracts at Iraq's biggest producing oilfields if they fail to start operating in the country within six months of deals taking effect, an Iraqi oil official said on Saturday.

Iraq will brook no delays on deals to boost oil output by 1.5 million barrels per day despite oil company concerns on security, said Abdul Mahdy al-Ameedi, deputy director general at Iraq's petroleum contracts and licensing directorate.

"If any company has been awarded a contract and it doesn't mobilise and perform activities on the ground six months from the effective date, the contract will be terminated," Ameedi told reporters on the sidelines of a workshop in Istanbul for firms interested in bidding for deals.

"We don't want any company to just put the contracts in their pocket without implementing them."

Oil firms would need to have staff on the ground by February next year if there are no delays to the time-frame for the first oil and gas bidding round since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. Most oil firms still consider it too risky to send staff.

Iraq expects to receive bids from oil firms in late May and early June and to award contracts by the end of June, Mahdy said. Deals should be validated within two months of award.

Iraq is offering 20-year service contracts on the giant fields, which contain a third of Iraq's oil reserves.

Four companies have dropped out of the running for the first bidding round but Iraq expected a good number of bids from the 32 firms still in the race, Mahdy said.

"We expect good competition," he said.

The four that dropped out were Anadarko Petroleum Corp, BG Group, Premier Oil, and BASF unit Wintershall, Ameedi said.

Turkey's state-owned Turkish Petroleum Corp had been added to the list of companies qualified to bid, but as a member of a consortium rather than an operator, he said.

SWEETENERS

The deals would be ratified by Iraq's cabinet, rather than by parliament, he said. If a draft oil law is passed, then power to ratify would pass to a newly formed federal oil and gas council, he added.

Firms bidding for the multi-billion dollar contracts are concerned that changes in the oil law or in Iraq's government could leave the contracts open to renegotiation or even render them invalid. The draft law has been stuck with feuding politicians for years.

Iraq has sweetened the terms of the contract after feedback from oil companies concerned that they would be taking on risky contracts for minimal reward.

Ameedi confirmed that a rate of output decline of 5 percent per year would be built into the contract, as reported by Reuters on Thursday.

That should make it easier for oil firms to beat their output target and allow them to cover costs more quickly.

Oil firms would have a 75 percent stake in the joint ventures with state-owned Iraqi operators at the fields holding the rest. That was up from the 49-51 percent stake initially proposed and should also allow faster cost recovery as the oil firms will have a bigger share of the improved oil output to pay their bills.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/oilRpt...*****Channel=0

Chief economist of the U.S. in Iraq confirms that the conditions for investment opportunity

The senior American officials in Iraq, economic conditions, and Mark became the opportunity for the entry of foreign firms into the country for the purpose of investment.

He said in a press release and published on Monday that the decline in violence and progress in Iraq in building its democratic will encourage these companies to make the decision to open up to the Iraqi market, especially the oil sector.

He added that Iraq had not been affected by the global economic crisis because of the association by banks at a global banking system, adding that the opposite may occur because the foreign companies to consider non-market Iraq Mstmtherp previously.

http://translate.google.com/translat...adiodijla.com/

Form a committee to follow-up of Iraqi funds frozen in the banks of Jordan and Syria

Minister of Finance Bayan Jabr on the formation of a government committee to follow up the Iraqi funds frozen in the banks of Jordan and Syria, which have been disposed of on the orders of the civil administrator in Iraq Paul Bremer, after the fall of the former regime.

On the other hand, said Zubaidi had been the initial signing of the first 100 million euros from the Italian loan for the development of the agricultural sector.

He explained that the Finance Ministry was awaiting the Agricultural Bank and the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources, the beneficiaries of this loan, even decide the equipment they need, and then imported and distributed to farmers.

http://translate.google.com/translat...adiodijla.com/

Kurdistan PM warns against Kurdish-Arab war

In a stepped up tone, Kurdistan Prime Minister Neshervan Barzani warned of war with Arabs if US Forces withdraw from Iraq before resolving tensed rows between Arabs and Kurds mainly Kirkuk issue.

In statements to the Associated Press, Barzani called on the US to put pressure on Baghdad Government in order to reach a final solution on Kirkuk which Arbil demands to join into its territories.

KRG PM complained about US rejection to interfere directly in order to solve Kirkuk crisis. Despite close ties with the US, “They don't care,” Barzani said.
“When we say something about protecting our people's rights, they see it as a problem, a disturbance to their Iraq policy”, he added.

Barzani noted that if it weren’t for US Forces in Kirkuk, Iraqis would have gotten into internal fighting. He urged new President Barack Obama’s administration to solve Kurdish-Arab rows before withdrawing US Forces from Iraq.

For his part, Kamal Kirkuki, deputy speaker of the regional Kurdish parliament, said Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki is a dangerous man and they are trying to stop him.

“He is dangerous for Iraq. He is dangerous for democracy. He is a second Saddam in Iraq”, Kirkuki uttered.

The Kurds have become more concerned since Al Maliki’s list rallied the majority of votes in recent polls.

http://www.alsumaria.tv/en/Iraq-News...-Arab-war.html

Iraq election results out Wednesday after 'minor' fraud

Final results of Iraq's provincial polls are to be announced on Wednesday, more than two weeks after the vote, following a probe into "minor" fraud cases, an electoral commission official said.

Hamdiya al-Husseini told AFP on Sunday that the votes from 30 polling stations out of 6,500 across Iraq had been invalidated after complaints.
According to preliminary results covering 90 percent of the ballot, the State of Law coalition backed by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki came first in Baghdad with 38 percent of the vote.

It also won in eight out of the nine Shiite provinces in southern Iraq, boosting the premier's standing both at home and abroad. The polling day itself was largely violence-free, drawing international praise.

But backers of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, whose movement came second in Baghdad with nine percent, said they would complain to the electoral commission about votes being excluded in the capital and in Najaf to the south.

Husseini said an inquiry had uncovered only "minor" cases of fraud. "After investigation, it turned out there had been some fraud and violations of voting procedures," she said.

But a new vote was not necessary because the cases only involved "a few thousand" ballots that could not have affected the final results, said the commission official.

In some cases, the number of votes was higher than that of registered voters, while in others the electoral rolls had vanished.

The race was contested in 14 out of Iraq's 18 provinces with a 51-percent turnout. Polling is to take place later in the three Kurdish provinces of northern Iraq and the disputed oil-rich region of Kirkuk.

http://www.zawya.com/Story.cfm/sidAN...nor%27%20fraud

Jubouri: do not link the question of election of the President of the Parliament and the adoption of 2009 budget

Spokesman denied the Iraqi Accordance Front, Salim Abdullah al-Jubouri and there is no correlation between the problematic election of the President of the Chamber of Deputies and the adoption of the budget for the year 2009.

Jubouri said, told the independent press (Iba) today, Tuesday was supposed to present 2009 budget to the House of Representatives in the tenth month of last year, according to the provisions of the Constitution and laws, before four months from now, but the government withdrew the budget submitted to the House of Representatives did not Trdjaha to the parliament only at the beginning of this month.

He pointed out that: "We can not keep silent on the serious issues" in the 2009 budget to resolve the issue of whether the presidency or not resolved, because the budget is linked to the interests of the people and issues and must take the attention of the multitude.

He stressed that Jubouri delay approval of the budget so far is because of the existence of problems within the same budget, the Government was trying to "Tmrrha" as far as possible the pretext that time was delayed, in order to force the House to acquiesce to the other serious issues. (According to him).

On the other hand, demanded that the Accordance Front, a spokesman for the House to proceed in the process of voting for candidates on Wednesday, stressing the need to settle himself on the House of Representatives President of the Council to vote on one of the candidates for this position, the opportunity for members of the House of Representatives to make a number of candidates to be the best choice of them.

http://translate.google.com/translat....com/index.php

Minister for Foreign Affairs of Germany: I came to support Iraq in the reconstruction process

"The German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said his visit to Baghdad comes in the framework of support to Iraq in the reconstruction process and to establish the rules of democracy, according to a statement issued Tuesday from the center of the German flags.

Steinmeier said Berlin shortly before his departure in a statement issued today by the Center received the German media agency (Voices of Iraq) a copy of which is "the Iraqi government has succeeded in the past few months to achieve significant successes in the political stability in the country, and our desire to show my support of this new Iraq in the process of reconstruction and the establishment of democracy and the peaceful settlement between the religions and races. "

The German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier arrived in Baghdad on Tuesday morning, is expected to meet Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, according to the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iraq, Lubaid Abbawi.

"The will and the German Foreign Minister Steinmeier to submit specific proposals for the Iraqis regarding the dialogue partners in close cooperation and comprehensive peace in the areas of economy, education, and will be opened by the Office of the economy in Baghdad."

The statement continued that "the establishment of this office due to the initiative of the German Foreign Ministry and the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, and the office is through the open channels of communication with Germany to the economic assistance to overcome the economic effects of the war in Iraq."

It should be noted that Steinmeier's visit is the first German official to a high since 2003.

Devt and Baghdad in recent months after the opening of the nations of the world on Iraq and the stability of the security situation after a number of Heads of State and officials was the last of the French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki.

The statement pointed out that he was accompanied by German Foreign Minister, in his numerous representatives of German companies and cultural institutions.

http://translate.google.co.uk/transl...hl=en&ie=UTF-8

Iraq says it intends to host Tehran-Washington talks

Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari has stated that Baghdad intends to host talks between Iran and the United States over the security situation in Iraq and called for maintaining "Iran-Iraq-U.S. triangle".

He made the remarks in an exclusive interview with the Mehr News Agency published on Monday.

Zebari said the Iraqi government, given the current situation in the country, views hosting such talks as a priority.

He pointed out that Iran is "one of Iraq's most important neighbors" that is seeking "special relations with Baghdad with goodwill" and that Baghdad's relations with Tehran are of "great significance".

He added the U.S. influence in Iraq is also "undeniable".

Iran's foreign minister has ruled out holding new security talks with the United States over Iraq, saying improved security situation has made such talks unnecessary.

However, Zebari said there are issues that Iran and the United States should "settle between themselves", and in the run-up to "new Iraq" Baghdad favors cooperation between the three parties by maintaining "Iran-Iraq-U.S. triangle."

The foreign minister also dismissed reports that Iraq is showing leniency in expelling Mojahedin Khalgh Organization (MKO), saying the Iraqi government has taken its decision on the group and the expulsion will be strictly monitored by a "special committee".

The MKO has claimed responsibility for carrying out numerous terror attacks against Iranian nationals and officials, and has also been accused of assisting former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in the slaughter of thousands of Iraqi civilians in the 1990s.

The MKO established a camp for about 3,500 members in Iraq, which its forces used to launch cross-border attacks into Iran. It fought alongside Saddam Hussein's forces during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.

Many senior Iraqi officials have assured Iran that the MKO members will soon have to leave Iraq.

Zebari also stated that Baghdad understands Tehran's concerns about the Iranian diplomats detained by U.S forces and expressed hope that Iraq's negotiations with the U.S. will lead to the release of the diplomats.

The U.S. military detained five Iranian diplomats in the city of Arbil, 310 km (190 miles) north of Baghdad, in January 2007. In November that year, U.S. officials said they would release two of the five diplomats.

http://www.zawya.com/Story.cfm/sidZA...ington%20talks

Zebari: Iraq regains its position in the region

Iraqi minister of foreign affairs Hoshiyar Zebari in a statement to (AFP) said that Iraq is regaining its place in the region especially as it slips down the priority list in Washington.

He also said “A flurry of high-level diplomatic visitors from neighbours Iran, Kuwait and Syria will bolster the country's new-found credibility as a sovereign state.”

He added that Iraq has political problems, tensions over the constitutional reforms, oil law and the government performance; he said that Baghdad’s government considers these issues as part of the reconciliation.

Within the Arab world, he said, Iraq had also taken a stand last month by staying away from a meeting of leaders in Qatar meant to shore up support for Hamas over the Gaza crisis, and instead attended an economic summit in Kuwait.

Zebari pointed to the opening of several Arab embassies in Baghdad and to the expected stream of diplomatic visits, with economic issues high on the agenda.

"Syria's prime minister and foreign minister are coming over soon," he said. "We are thinking of reopening our [oil] pipeline through Syria to the Mediterranean, that's a key issue." Zebari said Baghdad's often troubled ties with Damascus had "improved a great deal" following their opening of embassies in late 2006.

"There are less infiltrators coming from the Syrian border. They haven't stopped but the Syrians have taken a number of measures, and secondly they felt that this will backfire on them." Turning to Tehran, he acknowledged Shiite Iran was influential in the new Iraq, where the Shiite majority is dominant.

"They have influence, I have to be honest... But our attitude [now] is to deal with each other as two sovereign countries, through official channels," the minister said.

Even Kuwait, with which Iraq has had troubled ties for decades, culminating in Saddam's 1990 invasion, is sending its deputy premier and foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammad Sabah Al Salim Al Sabah, to Baghdad for the first time.

http://pukmedia.com/english/index.ph...=9364&Itemid=1

Experts stress the necessity of activating the recommendations of the (banking system), held last month

Economists stressed the need to activate the recommendations of the banking system held by the Ministry of Finance last month to attend a number of representatives of international banks. Experts said that the findings of the conference is aimed at the development level of banking business and in accordance with the principles of openness to international, Arab and international banks to contribute to the process of reconstruction and investment in Iraq. The conference was held under the banner of (Iraqi banking system .. solid as a means of establishing a prosperous Iraq) on 28 and January 29 last saw the presence of a number of ministers and the Governor of the Central Bank and representatives from the World Bank and the U.S. Treasury Department and a number of Ambassadors and representatives of the private banks, regional and international levels.

The conference and the important recommendations of the most prominent of the lifting of the ceiling of the credit banks for the purpose of the civil to the opening credits (4) million, instead of (2) million. The ministries are open to the direct provision of civil banks, and the acceptance of letters of guarantee issued by private banks by the state's departments, and consider the integration of banks, weak or non-actors with each other and strengthen their financial positions, and the request to the Central Bank to reduce the statutory reserve deposits to the government, reducing taxes on the overall bank profits, and to amend the resolution, which prevents foreign investors from participating board, but one member, whatever his contribution, in addition to a law or a special resolution of the foreign banks to open branches in Iraq, and to allow the amendment of the Banking Act to allow for the opening of the window, where Islamic law has not provided for , and demand from the Central Bank to reduce interest rate, which is becoming an obstacle in the process of investment.

This conference has been a workshop for the development of the banking mechanisms and in accordance with the principles of international headed the Central Bank of Iraq, as highlighted in the recommendations of her claim the Central Bank of Iraq to reconsider the mechanisms of action of some tools, in particular investment in the existing account deposits to spur banks to invest their funds in the areas of development, the conversion the work of the three specialized banks (industrial and agricultural real estate and cooperative) to the development banks, and the cancellation of the exercise and directed commercial banks to provide loans only Canada, a review of the commercial interest rate charged by commercial banks, Islamic banks are not subject to the controls for the commercial banks and the issuance of a special law, and the need to deal Chambers governmental and public sector companies with banks, similar to the civil government in the banks to deposit funds to it, a review of the provisions of the Act in force banks to increase the total amount of credit to deposits 70% of the total deposits, the central bank to provide electronic banking services for the development of modern means of payment, credit, and he urged State ministries to open an account for their employees to pay their salaries and the adoption of modern means of payment (credit cards) issued by banks and private Iraqi government to pay salaries through the banks to deal with, and find an appropriate mechanism for coordination between the Central Bank of Iraq and the National Investment for the organization to facilitate the entry and exit of capital and profits to foreign investors from Iraq in the service of attracting foreign investment to Iraq, and the Central Bank to open branch in the province of Kurdistan for the purpose of control and inspection on the performance and activity of branches of banks operating in Kurdistan, in addition to banking supervision in the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism, and to reconsider the decision of the Board of Governors for the Iraqi market Exchange by the imposition of fees (one per thousand) of the capital or the company's member banks in the market indicated the direction of reduced so as to encourage the development of financial market activity.

The conferees recommended the formation of a specialized committee of the various actors to follow up the implementation of the recommendations above after the adjournment of the Committee on Economic Affairs to study the possibility of implementation.

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