Thread: Archive News - Iraqi Dinar Think Tank - 06/05/09 - 04/09/09

Ministry denies planning to cancel the ration card

Denied by the Ministry of Planning and Development Cooperation that there is an intention or a mechanism for the Ministry to cancel the project in the country the ration card.

The information director of the ministry Haifa Mehedi "The Ministry of Planning and Development Cooperation has no intention to cancel the ration card at the time Alhadharaoualemstqubl, asserting that there is an order by the Minister of Planning Ali Baban, no prejudice to this issue because the ration is a project-based to serve the citizens and does not affect in a few Aonqs state budget this year Eimsha all."

The Mahdi said, "There are rumors that the recent cancellation of plans to ration card is not unfounded."

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Some lessons from the financial crisis

The countries of the world are still suffering from the repercussions of the global financial crisis that has become with the passage of time turn into an economic crisis after the U.S. President announced the possibility of entering the U.S. economy in a recession. As a result, the U.S. Congress to form an investigation committee similar to that which was formed after the attacks of September 2001, and the purpose of verification of the new issue of the recession, which may suffer repercussions from the U.S. economy, is still the fear remains that the current crisis to turn crisis are similar to those obtained by the time of the thirties of the last century, especially after the crisis struck major financial and banking institutions, such as the Washington Miochoal of Financial Services, and Lehman Brothers Bank, the fourth largest investment bank, Merrill Lynch and one of the largest investment bank in the United States before the bid Bank of America for fear of bankruptcy.

As well as the giant auto companies, long known as the long history of specialization in the area, and it has become today's intellectual labor, where millions of workers face losing their jobs, as happened, for example, in Spain, which reached the highest levels of unemployment to more than (4) million unemployed, and the United States where the Labor Department announced that the (640) A worker has been discharged from work in the second week of the month of March of this year, has announced more than a global company of its intention to reduce the production and the jobs they have, such as General Motors Corp. confirmed that it will reduce (47) thousand jobs during the year 2009, particularly since it was taken to the closure (13) and the reduction of plant production by (190) thousand cars, and Microsoft Corp. announced a decline in sales by (32%) during the past three months, as has the dismantling of the ***** (1000 ) function in their quest for restructuring.

As for Iraq, the impact of the crisis so far to get us through the oil price collapsed after the (147) dollars to the under (50) dollars, has left the direct impact on the state budget for 2009, and it is ironic that can Tochireha, we do not have a market Stock exchanges in all similar to the known world, in a time when world stock markets experience a decline in the indicators, the indicators of the Iraqi market for securities in the rise, and due to the fact that our market, however, connected to international markets, and the absence of significant foreign investment, which did not exceed or in the market is more than (3%), and it is regrettable that applies to us today that the ideals (in the convoy, the bankrupt), but has this been a bankruptcy in the interests of a mother and not us? So what we have learned from this crisis so far? In other words, what are the lessons that can be drawn from the crisis? Can simply say, first, to be economic management (fiscal and monetary) to the wise is the coordination between fiscal and monetary policies, and manage the economy of this area in the normal and extraordinary circumstances and have viable alternatives to address the crisis.

Secondly, the diversification of the economy is the only way to confront the crisis after it has been proven problematic in practice, we have to rely on oil as the sole source of public revenue, and the proof is clear through the public budget in 2009, where the financial authority and legislative representative of the House of Representatives to reduce their estimates more than once in response to repeated low in oil prices in the global market by the crisis and, consequently, the real economy, which is represented by agriculture and industry is the most effective and most sustained economic and social well-being, and more to ensure economic stability.

Thirdly, we must have a banking system is linked to a flexible and evolving relationship with clear and practical with the Central Bank, the latter to examine the good monetary and financial variables and sets the interest rate, which responds to the operations of lending and savings and investment and achieve the objectives of economic policy, and not, as is the case today, after the interest rate b (23%) reduced (19%) and then to (14%) today announced the central bank further reduced to (11%).

Fourthly, the need to re-examine the economic viability of many state institutions and companies and factories and restructuring or rehabilitation and to address the problem of hidden unemployment, which adversely affect the productivity of workers, so that makes it zero. The Fifth, it must be the elimination of financial and administrative corruption or reduce it to drain the resources of society and is an impediment to reconstruction and development, as it would hamper investment.

This crisis in spite of the problems that created, should be an opportunity to review and examine the economic realities of non-transparency and glory to the problems experienced by the national economy in terms of political or packaging does not fit with reality, with the identification of potential alternative options available and to anticipate future changes.

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Oil groups to end 40-year exile from Iraq

International oil companies are preparing to go back into Iraq by the end of the year, in spite of Baghdad’s failure to pass an oil law and continuing concerns over security.

BP and Royal Dutch Shell are among companies expected to bid for oil service contracts in June, with the long-term objective of being allowed to develop the world’s third-largest oil reserves.

E.xecutives from many of the world’s biggest oil companies – expelled almost 40 years ago – have assured Iraqi officials they plan to commit to working in the country.

Jeroen van der Veer, chief E.xecutive of Royal Dutch Shell, said his company was participating in the bidding process and that the new contract terms had made it more attractive to invest there. “Yes, sure. In the end, you have to make up your mind,” he said.

The service contracts, which are divided into six groups of fields, include up front guarantees of soft loans totalling $2.6bn (€2bn, £1.7bn).

A BP spokesman said: “If successful, we could see ourselves back in Iraq by the end of the year barring any unforeseen delays.”

For five years, following the US invasion of Iraq, oil E.xecutives had been insisting on better security and the passage of a hydrocarbon law – seen as crucial by the previous US administration as an indicator of political stability – before they would be willing to invest billions of dollars. Now the companies say they are prepared to return to Iraq even though the country’s oil law remains bogged down by political discord and its fragile peace faces two imminent tests: the forthcoming elections and the US military’s departure.

Thamir Ghadhban, chairman of the advisory board to Iraq’s prime minister and a former oil minister, told the Financial Times that the coming bidding round – the first since the end of the 2003 war – would be heavily subscribed.

“International oil companies are short of reserves and opportunities and us countries control almost 88 per cent of oil reserves. The only real opportunity is Iraq.”

He said an oil law would no doubt make the companies “more satisfied, but we are not working from a void. We have laws”. He said not a single company had come to him with second thoughts or to declare it would not bid because of the absence of a hydrocarbons law. “The oil companies will bid and it will be competitive.”

BP, Shell Total and ExxonMobil were part of the consortium of oil companies whose assets were appropriated by Baghdad when the country nationalised the industry in early 1973.

Iraq, which produces about 2.4m barrels of oil a day, holds reserves of about 115bn barrels, which are relatively easy and inexpensive to tap.

Only Saudi Arabia and Iran hold more oil, but both are off limits to international companies, which have had to move into increasingly remote or expensive areas such as the Arctic and Canada’s oil sands.

The breakthrough on Iraq’s contracts comes after months of negotiations between Iraqi officials and oil company E.xecutives.

Alex Munton, analyst at Wood Mackenzie, the industry consultant, said: “There has been an effort to try to go as far as they can so the oil companies’ concerns, raised by the absence of a hydrocarbons law, can be met through the contracts.”

He added: “Iraq may be at the bottom of any scale ranking investment climate – even for hardened oil companies – but it is at the top of any scale ranking the attractiveness of its oil reserves.”

Bids are due at the start of June and the winners are expected to be revealed by the end of that month. Iraq’s cabinet plans to ratify the agreements before the end of August, which would mean companies have to begin work in November or risk losing the contract.

“Iraq is not interested in signing contracts that will not be worked on,” Mr Ghadhban stressed, noting that the contracts committed companies to begin work three months after ratification.

Given Iraq’s recent record, delay and derailment remains a possibility. For Baghdad, however, getting the contracts signed has become more urgent since the collapse in oil prices – to $50 a barrel from $147 last summer – left a gaping hole in its budget.

For the companies, the drop in the oil price may have drastically reduced available cash but not so much as to force them to forgo the biggest investment opportunity since the fall of communism lifted the barriers to Russia and the Caspian.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/86834368-3...nclick_check=1

Dollar sales exceed $95 million on Thursday

Demand for the dollar was higher in the Central Bank of Iraq’s (CBI) auction on Thursday, reaching $95.380 million compared to $77.834 million in the previous session.

“The demand hit $2.900 million in cash, covered by the bank at an exchange rate of 1,176 Iraqi dinars, and $92.480 million in foreign transfers outside the country, covered by the bank at an exchange rate of 1,173 Iraqi dinars per dollar,” according to a CBI news bulletin received by Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

None of the 13 banks that participated in today’s session offered to sell dollars.

http://en.aswataliraq.info/?p=112764

Iraq oil Ministry considers oil bids

Deputy of Iraq Oil Ministry Ahmad Al Shamma’ said that Iraq is at the final stage of a bids study submitted by Japanese company Nippon oil, ENI Italian company and Repsol Spanish oil company. He also assed that he intends to announce the company that won the bid for developing Al Nassiriah oil field by the end of this month. Iraq had earlier announced that Al Nassiriah field has the capacity of producing 100000 oil barrels per day during 18 months. Meanwhile, ENI company officials believe that the field production could reach 1 million barrels per day.

http://www.alsumaria.tv/en/Economics...-oil-bids.html

Reveals the source of (EYBENS) transactions for the management of confidential funds of the former regime of Iraqi investors and government officials

A high level source "of the existence of a deal between senior officials in the Iraqi government, and investors take over Iraqi funds of the former regime after the fall ..

The source told the independent press (Iba) on Thursday: "These investors have Bchgl the money for the benefit of the projects were established outside of Iraq, with senior officials in the Iraqi government.

And Acharalamsdr to: "The investors who own multiple names of companies and financed by the former president and his sons.

He said: "There is a deal that had been among them, the creation of money out of Iraq and some of the former regime of Iraqi reconstruction funds.

This source did not reveal more, but said that he will condemn the files of those investors with senior Iraqi government to body integrity.

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Parliamentary NOAA: oil policy pursued by the Ministry of Oil is not known

The member of the Integrity Committee in the Iraqi Council of Representatives Nasseef that high oil policy pursued by the Ministry of Oil is not known, adding that the oil minister was unable to answer questions from members of Parliament about the politics of oil.

Nassif said in a statement to Radio NOUAN that members of parliament asked for the resignation of the minister of oil in the host to the Council.

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Basra oil exports will resume back to normal height

Well-informed sources told the Reuters news agency that oil exports from the port of Basra on Wednesday rose to normal at 1.44 million barrels a day after falling to 1.08 million barrels per day, Monday At the time of the average OPEC basket price index rise yesterday, to close at 52.71 dollars a barrel after the price of $ 52.11 yesterday.

Well-informed sources said:

The sources added that the latest decline in the rate of flow was due to the conversion of quantities of oil to the reserve storage tanks.

Iraq has the world according to statistics, the third largest oil reserves in the world, which seeks to boost production in order to increase financial returns. The center of this picture, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries announced that the average OPEC basket price index continued to rise yesterday, to close at 52.71 dollars a barrel after the price of $ 52.11 yesterday.

The OPEC basket of 12 kinds of crude oil, and these raw materials are: "Basra Light and the Algerian Sahara and Angola Girassol and Iranian heavy crude and Kuwait export crude Seder and the Libyan and Nigerian Bonny Light, in addition to the sea and the country of Saudi Arabian Light crude oil and raw Mrban United Arab Emirates and Venezuela, and Mary of the Orient Ecuador."

The rising price of crude oil OPEC, coinciding with the rising price of crude oil on the world, which exceeded the $ 56 a barrel, supported by news of an unexpected decline in stockpiles of U.S. oil and gasoline.

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Iraq reservations in agreement with the railway linking Iran and Kuwait

Continued in the Egyptian capital Cairo, the proceedings of the meeting of senior officials of the Arab Transport Ministries of the presence of the Iraqi delegation to the formulation of a draft working paper of the decisions of the E.xecutive Summit and the Arab economic and social development in the area of transportation.

The head of the engineers in the Ministry of Planning and Development Cooperation Daham Zughayyar Jalal al-Rawi told a news briefing that the Ministry of Transport and hesitated on the issue of rail connectivity with neighboring countries, especially (Iran and Kuwait).

He said the wait for banning the means to link with the two above-mentioned Ansabip to transport passengers and cargo to Iraq and the links Skkip with other neighboring countries.

The narrator said the railway link and obstruct the work of recovery and development of Iraqi ports and lead to further marginalization in turn will lead to the recovery of the Gulf ports and easily connected to the detriment of Europe's ports.

He said the railway link will lead to a loss of strategic importance and logistics of the large port of Faw and obviate the need after the arrival of the railway to the ports of the Gulf's booming at the expense of Iraqi ports.

He said the wait for banning the means to link with the two above-mentioned Ansabip to transport passengers and goods to Iraq, and also links Skkip with other neighboring countries

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Triple Canopy Sponsors Iraq Oil and Gas Summit in Houston

Leading Security Contractor Ready to Secure Energy Sector in Iraq

Triple Canopy, Inc., a leading provider of integrated security solutions to organizations worldwide, will sponsor the 2nd Iraq Oil and Gas Summit on May 13 to 14 in Houston, Texas.

"Triple Canopy is proud to sponsor this year's oil and gas conference in Houston," said Lee Van Arsdale, CEO of Triple Canopy. "Triple Canopy is one of the few security companies with the experience, licensing and country-wide footprint required to secure oil and gas investments in Iraq. Our comprehensive security services are specifically tailored to meet the needs of the energy sector."

Triple Canopy maintains excellent working relationships with government and commercial clients throughout Iraq. The company's full-service security solutions include travel and visa arrangements, airport expediting, office space, life support, fixed-site and ****** security services, low-profile packages, secure communications and training.

The 2nd Iraq Oil and Gas Summit will feature key officials from Iraq's energy sector and petroleum industry. Please visit http://www.new-fields.com/iog****9/index.php for more information or stop by Triple Canopy's exhibit during the event.

http://www.zawya.com/Story.cfm/sidZA...n%20Houston%20