Thread: Iraq/Dinar News. 09/05 to 01/14/07

Originally Posted by cigarman

After reading both articles I think Iraqi updates just rehashed Dec 8th's article. I think I can sleep alot better tonight. Thanks.

Don't panic everybody that article about failed oil talks was last weeks news....I was one of the one's who posted it along several others. Definately definately positively OLD NEWS.....there is an article posted later that they "kissed and made up" not in so many words but they had decided to set their differences aside....I will dig around for it.

Originally Posted by jsfletcher

when did we see the article about them dropping their demnds and playing nice?

"Think Tank History" Post #31389 (page 3139). Think this is the article you are referring to....

But those demands have now been dropped, said Barham Salih, the Kurdish chairman of the drafting committee. "Revenue sharing is an accepted principle by all the constituent elements of the Iraqi government, including the Kurds, and that is the unifying element that we're all hoping for in the oil law."

Scotsman.com News - International - Iraqis near to a deal on sharing oil wealth

After seeing they rehashed Dec 8th's article I believe todays article about 1260 rate was different articles rehashed to make a new meaning. Man these newspapers are good to get us all worked up and second guessing ourselves. All I got to say is if they want my dinar they will have to come off the hip. lol.

Originally Posted by RCTEAM

I dont post much, but I just wanted to say this to you. It is very nice of you to go thru all that trouble to set this up for the membership at this forum. I have had trouble getting orders too with a Chase Bank. I use SafeDinar with no problems. But know you got us a Dealer that will give a discount for more Dinars for the money. Thanks again for all you and your Team at Rolclub do.

God Bless,
Vivian

Hello Viv (RCTEAM),

I really appreciate the thought. I am just a Shepperd lurking about, with the Membership. Marek, (Admin) is the owner of Rolclub. I am apart of his Team. He has several Mods, now that we have added others to help. But the membership is what makes Rolclub, Rolclub. People like you and the rest. I am just doing my part, little that it is to just help others that I hear still wanting Dinars and dont have the convienence that some do. That was just another set-up because of Rolclubs membership. Thanks Again.

Sorry Gang, I had to respond to that "Very, Very," nice comment.

Originally Posted by BUCKAROO

"Think Tank History" Post #31389 (page 3139). Think this is the article you are referring to....

Here's Piper's article from the history thread.

Iraqis near to a deal on sharing oil wealth

IN BAGHDAD

IRAQI officials are near agreement on a national oil law that would give the central government the power to distribute current and future oil revenues to the provinces or regions, based on their population.

If enacted, the measure could help resolve a highly divisive issue that has consistently blocked efforts to reconcile feuding ethnic and sectarian factions. Sunni Arabs, who lead the insurgency, have opposed the idea of regional autonomy for fear that they would be deprived of a fair share of the country's oil wealth, which is concentrated in the Shi'ite south and Kurdish north.

The Iraq Study Group report stressed that an oil law guaranteeing an equitable distribution of revenues was crucial to the process of national reconciliation, and thus to ending the war. Without such a law, it would also be impossible for Iraq to attract the foreign investment it desperately needs to bolster its war-ravaged oil industry.

A deal could be reached within days, according to officials. The major remaining stumbling block concerns the issuing of contracts for developing future oilfields. The Kurds are insisting that the regions reserve final approval over the contracts, fearing that if that power were given to a Shi'ite-dominated central government, it could ignore proposed contracts in the Kurdish north while permitting them in the Shi'ite south.

The national oil law lies at the heart of debates about the future of Iraq, particularly the issue of a strong central government versus robust regional governments.

On the drafting committee, Sunni Arabs have allied with the Shi'ites against the Kurds, who have sought to maintain as much regional control as possible over the oil industry in their autonomous northern enclave. Iraqi Kurdistan has enjoyed de facto independence since 1991, when the American military established a no-flight zone above the region to prevent raids by Saddam Hussein.

General George W Casey, the senior US commander in Baghdad, and Zalmay Khalilzad, the US ambassador, have urged Iraqi politicians to put the oil law at the top of their agenda, saying it must be passed before the end of the year.
The drafting committee is made up of politicians from the main Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurdish blocs in government. They began talks months ago, but the pace picked up recently.
At the start, the Kurds fought to ensure that regional governments had the power to collect and distribute revenues from future fields. They also proposed that revenues be shared among the regions based on both population and crimes committed against the people under Saddam's rule. That would have given the Kurds and Shi'ites a share of the oil wealth larger than the proportions of their populations.

But those demands have now been dropped, said Barham Salih, the Kurdish chairman of the drafting committee. "Revenue sharing is an accepted principle by all the constituent elements of the Iraqi government, including the Kurds, and that is the unifying element that we're all hoping for in the oil law."
The Kurds are willing to make concessions because a national oil law could attract more foreign oil companies to exploration and development in Kurdistan.

Some Kurdish leaders also believe that the concessions are a worthwhile price to pay for having a stake in the much larger revenue pool of the country's oil industry. The southern fields accounted for 85% of Iraqi crude production last year, partly because northern production was hampered by insurgent sabotage. The south has an estimated 65% of the country's 115 billion barrels of proven reserves.

The working draft of the oil law re-establishes the state-run Iraq National Oil Company - founded in 1964 to oversee oil production but shut down by Saddam in 1987 - and sets production thresholds for creating new regional companies.

Originally Posted by cigarman

After seeing they rehashed Dec 8th's article I believe todays article about 1260 rate was different articles rehashed to make a new meaning. Man these newspapers are good to get us all worked up and second guessing ourselves. All I got to say is if they want my dinar they will have to come off the hip. lol.

Well it would seem to me that there would not be all this mosdirection for a 1260 exchange rate. So either they are all clueless, or they have something bigger planned

Originally Posted by BUCKAROO

"Think Tank History" Post #31389 (page 3139). Think this is the article you are referring to....

So the "History Think Tank" thread was needed. Kinda like a Reference guide. right? Sure glad it is getting used.

Here's another article dated TODAY that states all looks good on the oil law.

Iraqis Near Draft Law on Dividing Oil Revenue

A group of Iraqi politicians and ministers is close to finishing a draft of a national oil law that, if enacted, would be the most significant legislation passed by the government so far and help narrow some of the country's major political schisms, Iraqi and American officials say.
The officials said the authors have reached agreement on one of the most divisive issues in Iraq: How revenues from the oil industry should be distributed. The working draft calls for the central government in

Baghdad to collect oil revenues and distribute them to provinces or regions based on population, the officials say. The measure could calm some Sunni Arabs who oppose regional autonomy because of fears that Sunnis would be excluded from a fair share of oil wealth, which is concentrated in Shiite and Kurdish regions.
The law could also encourage foreign investment in the oil industry, although security would remain a major concern for companies operating outside the relatively safe region of Iraqi Kurdistan.

The national oil law lies at the heart of debates about the future of Iraq, particularly the issue of having a strong central government or robust regional governments. The question of oil hasE also exacerbated sectarian tensions, because of the worries of Sunni Arabs, who are leading the insurgency, over the potentially lopsided distribution of oil wealth.

General George W. Casey Jr., the senior American commander here, and Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. ambassador, have urged Iraqi politicians to put the oil law at the top of their agendas, saying it must be passed before the year's end.

The report released this week by the Iraq Study Group said an equitable oil law was a necessary cornerstone to the process of national reconciliation, and thus to ending the war.

A final sticking point over approval of oil contracts remains, so there is a chance that parts of the working draft could be scrapped. But a deal could be reached within days, according to officials involved in the writing. The law would then go to the cabinet and Parliament for approval.

The Kurds, who already have an autonomous region in the north, had put up a fight to have regional governments collect and redistribute oil revenues, particularly ones from oil fields yet to be exploited. They had also proposed that revenues be shared among the regions based on both population and crimes committed against people under Saddam Hussein's rule. That would give the Kurds and Shiites a share of the oil wealth larger than the proportions of their populations.

But the Kurds on the drafting committee have shelved those demands, said Barham Salih, a deputy prime minister who is a Kurd and chairman of the committee.

"Revenue sharing is an accepted principle by all the constituent elements of the Iraqi government, including the Kurds, and that is the unifying element that we're all hoping for in the oil law," Salih said in an interview.

An American official here who has tracked the negotiations said the Kurds were willing to make concessions because a national oil law could attract more foreign oil companies to exploration and development in Kurdistan. A large foreign oil company would have more confidence in signing a contract with the Kurds if the company were to operate under the law of a sovereign country rather than just the law of an autonomous region, the official said on the condition of anonymity.

Furthermore, the official said, some Kurdish leaders believe that the concessions are a worthwhile price to pay for having a stake in the much larger revenue pool of the entire country's oil industry. The southern fields of Basra accounted for 85 percent of total Iraqi crude production last year, partly because northern production was hampered by insurgent sabotage. The south has an estimated 65 percent of the country's 115 billion barrels of proven reserves.

But the Kurds are still holding out on the issue of oil contracts. They insist that the central government should not have final approval over contracts signed by the regions to develop future oil fields, American and Iraqi officials said. The Kurds, who have recently discovered two new fields in the north after signing exploration contracts with a Turkish company and a Norwegian company, argue that the Constitution guarantees the regions absolute rights over such contracts.

"There are those among us who say we cannot go back to the former days of centralization, which were not conducive to good business practice and to the idea of federalism that is enshrined in the Constitution," Salih said.

Officials met Thursday night to try to resolve the issue, but could not reach an agreement. The committee includes politicians and ministers representing the major Shiite, Sunni Arab and Kurdish blocs in government.

A possible compromise floated by the Kurds is to allow a proposed body called the Federal Petroleum Council, whose mission would be to set oil policy, to reject a regional contract only if it can muster a two-thirds vote, and only if the contract does not meet very specific criteria.

"The Kurds are afraid that if they left the contracting up to the central government rather than themselves, the center might defer contracts," said the American who is tracking the law. "For example, the government might find it easier to contract for production in the south or develop only the fields there."

As for revenue distribution by population, the American official said a national census expected to be taken next year should determine the share of revenue that goes to each province or region. But the proposed census and any talk of demographics are volatile issues here - Sunni Arabs often claim they are at least 60 percent of the population, not the 20 percent that is often cited, and so have the right to rule over the Shiites and Kurds. The Shiites are generally estimated to be 60 percent of the population, and the Kurds 20 percent.

If doing a census next year is too politically fraught, or if security conditions prevent it, then revenue percentage could beU determined by the household counts recorded in rolls used by Saddam Hussein's government to distribute rations in the 1990s.

RIGZONE - Iraqis Near Draft Law on Dividing Oil Revenue

The central government says it will give 13% of the Iraqi budget to Kurdistan.

Kurdish PM Nechirvan Barzani said that no decisions were made during his last visit to Baghdad with the federal government, adding that more time for discussions was necessary, local media reported last week.
If no agreements are made, Kurdistan Alliance will have a different status from the federal government, said the PM.

The federal government neglected to transfer $485 million (US) to the Kurdistan region account for the 2006 budget, regardless of the increase in oil income.

Furthermore, the central government says it will give 13% of the Iraqi budget to Kurdistan, and not the agreed-upon 17%. The increase will not occur until a general population data verification is performed in all of Iraq, the PM added.

"If we reach agreement on issues of budget, oil, investment law, and Kurdistan region's share of the sold oil, we would gain a great achievement, though these issues need more discussions," Barzani told the press.

"I would like you to realize that the reason I came back from Baghdad is not because we were getting nowhere, but because of other commitments and obligations in Kurdistan. I will go back after a few days," PM Barzani said.

Source: The Kurdish Globe