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

BEIRUT, 13 December 2006 (The Daily Star)

Lebanon's Make Oil Company is expected to start building a $3 billion oil refinery in Iraqi Kurdistan within one month, company management told The Daily Star on Tuesday.
The firm expects to sign a contract with the Iraqi Natural Resources Ministry in about three weeks and can start construction immediately in Dhouk, near Irbil, Make Oil general manager Ahmad Kheireddine said.
Construction should last between two and three years, and once completed the refinery will be able to handle 250,000 barrels per day, said Make Oil lead engineer Mahmoud Darwish. The company's investors for the Kurdistan refinery hail from the Gulf, Europe and the United States.
Make Oil has also proposed to build a smaller refinery in Dhouk that can launch operations in nine months, while work on the bigger facility continues, Kheireddine said.
Make Oil is also among the bidders to build a $2.2 billion refinery in Basra. That project would take about two and a half years to finish,and would have a capacity of 150,000 barrels per day, Darwish said.
Make Oil's biggest problem in completing the Basra deal is getting to Basra - because of the sectarian conflict in Iraq, company executives are unwilling to travel there to finish negotiating the deal. But Kheireddine expressed hope that the contract would be signed in two or three months if the situation allowed it.
In Kurdistan as in Basra, Make Oil has faced fierce competition from Gulf oil firms, many of which enjoy vast financial resources and experience. The Lebanese say their good relationships with the ministry and the Kurds have helped their cause, and they are eager to build factories and public-works projects in Kurdistan.
The raging war in Iraq has not affected Make Oil's work, nor should the refinery be a target for attack, officials said.
"There's no danger in Kurdistan," Kheireddine said. "It's a separate territory. We're not taking a risk."
Make Oil officials also brushed aside talk of Kurdistan becoming an independent country - Turkey and the US will not allow the Kurds to secede, according to Make Oil deputy general manager Samer Zeitoun.
"This won't happen," Zeitoun said. "Even if this happens, we won't have any problem."
The Kurdistan project will be the first refinery built by Make Oil, which has offices in Germany, Spain, England, Sudan and Syria.
Aside from the Iraqi quagmire, oil prices will continue to climb for a long time thanks to China's strong economic growth, Kheireddine said.
"The Chinese need for oil is increasing," he said.
Despite the recent softness on the market, prices should rise again before the end of the year, Kheireddine said. A barrel of crude cost about $61 when trading opened Tuesday morning, down 20 percent for the year, but up about $5 per barrel since mid-November.

Cheers!
DayDream

FYI... a coworker of mine went to a local Chase branch and ordered more NID today. Exchange rate was .00078290 USD. Looks like Chase is STILL selling. Well, actually, let's first see if they deliver tomorrow.

Originally Posted by Inscrutable

Iraq’s Former Prime Minister Calls for Martial Law

Former Iraqi Prime Minister, Ayad Allawi has called for martial law to be declared in Iraq to help stem the flow of violence. Ayad Allawi is the first major Iraqi leader to suggest such draconian measures.
Allawi, in an interview with NBC News said “I think martial law is required” and added “I pray to God that we don't lose, because the other alternative is going to be the prevalence of extremism and terrorism.”
Just hours after his initial comments, 70 people were killed and an estimated 220 injured by car bombs at Tayaran Square, just several hundred yards away from the Green Zone in downtown Baghdad.

Interesting,

I wonder who stated that Allawi is the first major leader, gee, this person must have written this in a time warp. Since when is a former PM a major leader, he was ousted from position in May.

Happy Holiday Season to all, Mike

Originally Posted by Gloribee

fsd, you make a great point. I too have been in a position where no Info was available to most. While I cant find all the great articles as most, I feel my job is to find pertinent Info. from friends who have boots on the ground. This is to help verify and follow-up questions from this forum. Sometimes I need more contacts to verify Info, and thats what nice about RolClub. vast #'s of people with verying degrees of background. Thats why we all share, even if only moral support of woots jigs or yehaaas. Everyone here is great and also one of the first things I do when on. See who's lurking. You have all become my friends and I like it that way.

Gloribee

And you are one of the many names that I didn't get put down on my list of name to thank. Thank you as well as any others that I didn't get on the list.
We appreciate you as well.

Originally Posted by Offshore-Wealth.com

Interesting,

I wonder who stated that Allawi is the first major leader, gee, this person must have written this in a time warp. Since when is a former PM a major leader, he was ousted from position in May.

Happy Holiday Season to all, Mike

I found it odd as well but they do say former and that's the reason I threw it out there.

Telegraph | News | Call for martial law as 70 are killed in Iraq

Someone tell me about this ignore feature. I think Inscrutable will be my first!

Originally Posted by Alphamystic

Well, it seems like a very slow day for news today; and if arguing is going to be today's flavor-of-the-day I guess I'll take a break from the forum till tomarrow.

My best to all.

Yeah, and I thought for a moment that I was on the IIF site there! Then I had to check to see if this was still "The Latest News" thread and lo and behold...it is...so imagine my surprise...

Engineers Improving Electricity in Iraq


By Mohammed Aliwi
AN NASIRIYAH, Iraq -- The huge consumption of electricity as a result of the large quantity of electrical goods the Iraqi people are buying with their increasing prosperity, combined with the sabotage of power lines, have contributed to Iraq’s challenge of keeping up with electrical demands. Despite those obstacles, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has made significant progress in improving electrical production and distributing power equitably throughout the country.

USACE engineers oversee the building, refurbishing and upgrading of the electrical power systems, including generation, transmission and distribution countrywide according to Lt. Col. Anthony G. Reed, resident engineer for the Karbala and North Babil resident offices of the Gulf Region South District (GSR).

“The Babil province has awarded 24 electrical distribution networks and several substation projects in 2006. Ten of these projects have been completed and 14 are still under construction,” he said. Reed believes that every project helps improve the flow of electricity to Iraqis to some degree.

Most projects focus on distributing electricity from one town to another, and to the outlying neighborhoods. Some of these neighborhoods have never had electricity before he said.

“Due to the fact that the projects are focused on distribution, they really don’t reduce the number of blackouts created by power generation source failures. However, the electrical feeders do help people get electricity when they have the power coming to them,” he explained.

An Iraqi electrical engineer with the Babil Residence Office, requesting anonymity, said their new projects included “two 132,000 volt overhead lines and three 33,000v overhead lines.”

“We supervised three 33,000 and 11,000 volt substations in Babil, four electrical distribution networks in Al-Mahweel and Al-Imam districts, and four electrical distribution networks which were installed in Al-Iskanderia area north of Babil,” the Iraqi said.

“All the projects GRS executes are to improve the distribution networks in the residential neighborhoods and businesses. It also improves the ability of the transmission feeders to handle the transmitted power between the 132kv substations,” he said.

The Iraqi electrical engineer explained that electrical transmission lines were a target for sabotage by terrorists in the Hilla, Karbella and Najaf areas. “When such sabotage happens, it causes a shutdown for all substations that are connected to the 132kv line,” he said.

Maj. Kevin J. Stoll, the Babil resident engineer, blamed sabotage for contributing to power outages in areas of the country.

“Combined with the antiquated system that existed under the previous regime, sabotage keeps power from reaching homes for an extended amount of time. When one central grid transmission tower falls, it knocks out power to the entire grid,” Stoll said.

“It then takes time to repair or replace that tower and any others that are affected, and even more time to re-energize the system (sometimes 48-72 hours) before finally getting power to the consumers.” Stoll believes consumer demand for electricity has hindered the supply of reliable power.

“Because of the freedom to purchase the ‘luxury’ items that were not as readily available in the past–such as air conditioners, heaters, refrigerators and microwaves– extra demands have been placed on power grids at an incredible rate over the past three and a half years. Sometimes the power demand exceeds the amount generated, causing brown- and black-outs,” he said.

Greg F. Fillers, GRS chief of programs and project management, said that the Corps is responsible for reporting progress on projects.

“The electrical projects are assigned to us to monitor during construction. We have a total of 160 electrical projects for the nine southern governorates worth about $964 million that GRS is responsible for,” he said. “In Thi-Qar province that total is 17 projects worth $149 million.”

The biggest improvements for the city of An Nasiriyah are the upgrades to several substations and construction of additional new substations.

“The new substations prevent problems with overloads to the electrical network which causes equipment to fail and power outages without warning,” Fillers said. “The Corps recently provided An Nasiriyah with 50 new transformers to replace the outdated ones which were the main cause for the outages and the rationing across the city.”

He explained the old transformers could not handle the amount or load of high voltage electricity flowing through to feed the damage from all of the electrical devices this past summer, and this caused continuous blackouts during the summer.

New transformers were ordered and installed to convert the electricity to usable levels at the consumer end.

“Most of the new construction substations are in other towns around Thi-Qar, which takes a load off of the existing substations in Nasiriyah and prevents damage,” Fillers said.




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Posted on Wednesday, December 13

Originally Posted by wciappetta

The Reason you have what you have is because Jesus blesses the just and the unjust period. If you don't know that now you will in the end. He is the only way, the only truth and the gift of pardon and eternal life is found only in him. You have a standing invitation at the Lords table, don't ignore it.

But you may ignore me if you wish

I was speaking of the one who was cursing me in the same sentence that they were referencing the bible, I am a true believer in the Lord.

I know why I have what I have and I can assure you it's not from dirty deeds.

The Ministry of Municipality and General Labors has referred 69 various projects for implementation in districts and sub-districts surrounding the capital Baghdad with total cost reaches to ID170 billions while another ID3 billions were allocated for cleaning these cities and develop the parks.

In statement to as-Sabah newspaper, an official source at the ministry said "This came during the minister meeting with municipality minister Riyadh Ghreeb with the governor and president of the Baghdad council at the headquarters of the governorate yesterday.He indicated that the governorate had actually referred 69 projects for implementation in potable, municipality and sewerage services in the outskirts of Baghdad.
Source: Al Sabaah




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Posted on Wednesday, December 13 @ 03:38:33 PST by admin