Thread: Archive News - Iraqi Dinar Think Tank - 08/09/09 - 09/01/10

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki concluded his visit to Egypt

Left Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in Cairo today after a two-day official visit during which he met Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

The Office in Cairo, said al-Maliki held talks with his Egyptian counterpart Ahmed Nazif discussed strengthening relations between the two countries in all fields, particularly economic and political relations and Egypt's contribution to the reconstruction of Iraq in the next phase.

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Iraq expects to resume oil flows from Kirkuk on Tuesday

Deputy Oil Minister Abdul-Karim Luaibi on Monday that Iraq expects to resume oil exports from Kirkuk to Turkey on Tuesday, adding that the pipeline was sabotage the process ...

Late on Saturday stopped flows from Kirkuk to the Turkish port of Ceyhan, which amounted to 404 thousand barrels per day on average in November.

The Luaibi told reporters: "We expect to resume exports from Kirkuk tomorrow ... was a strategic pipeline to Ceyhan for sabotage."

And stopped supplies via this line several times in recent months and are usually transferred the line a quarter of Iraq's oil exports.

And exposed oil facilities and pipelines to acts of violence and sabotage since the US-led invasion in 2003 also led to technical failures in some cases to reduce the flow of oil.

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Iraq signs oil contract with Petronas and Gharraf JAPEX-up investment to $ 8 billion
Signed the Malaysian national oil company Petronas and Japan Petroleum Exploration (JAPEX) on Monday signed an agreement in principle to develop Iraqi oil field Gharraf ...

And Petronas, a company official said on Monday it expected to invest Malaysian national oil company and its partner, Japan Petroleum Exploration (JAPEX) between seven and eight billion dollars to develop Iraqi oil field Gharraf.

Gharraf reserves are estimated at about 900 million barrels of oil and was among the ten fields of development put forward earlier this month on a tour of the Iraqi oil contract bidding in the second since the US-led invasion in 2003.

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Dollar sales jump to 155m in CBI’s Monday auction

The Central Bank of Iraq’s (CBI) dollar sales rose to $155.270 million in its daily auction on Monday, compared to $97.963 million during the previous session.

“The demand hit $9.980 million in cash, covered at exchange rate of 1,170 Iraqi dinars per dollar, and $145.290 million in foreign transfers outside the country, covered 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 17 banks that participated in today’s session offered to sell dollars.

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Iran troops still on Iraq's soil: Iraqi politician

Iranian troops remained within Iraq's borders on Monday despite having withdrawn from an oil well along the two countries' disputed frontier, a local politician told AFP.

Oil ministry spokesman Assem Jihad, meanwhile, said the oil well had not yet been developed, and no Iraqis had worked to extract crude from it before Iran took it over last week.

"The Iranians withdrew from the well and took down the Iranian flag," Mayssam Lafta, the Maysan provincial council member charged with security and defence, told AFP.

"But they are still on Iraqi soil."

The well, known as Oil Well 4, is situated in Maysan.

According to Lafta, the Iranians are positioned 50 metres (yards) east of the well, while Iraqi forces are "surrounding the well."

Jihad told AFP on Monday that the oil well had "not been developed" and added that no workers would be going to it because it was not in use.

The facility lies in disputed territory about 100 metres from the Iranian border, according to Iraqi officials. Iran says the oil well falls within its borders.

On Friday, Iraq's state-owned South Oil Company in the Maysan provincial capital Amara that about a dozen Iranian troops and technicians had arrived at the field, taken control of the Well 4 and raised the Iranian flag.

It was the first serious incident between the two neighbours since the US-led invasion of 2003 that toppled Saddam Hussein, whose forces fought a 1980-1988 war against Iran.

Many leaders of Shiite parties who were exiled to Iran during the Saddam era are now in power in Baghdad.

Well 4 is in the Fauqa Field, part of a cluster of oilfields which Iraq unsuccessfully put up for auction to oil majors in June. The field has estimated reserves of 1.55 million barrels.

The tensions between the two oil producing countries come as OPEC readies for a meeting in Luanda, Angola, on Tuesday.

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Leaders of Iraq, Egypt seek closer ties

Iraq's prime minister met the Egyptian president Monday as part of efforts to generate Arab support for reconstruction in Iraq after decades of war, neglect and sanctions.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's visit to Cairo was also politically significant because Iraq's Shi'ite-led government and its close ties to Iran are often viewed with suspicion by its mostly Sunni neighbors.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari says Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak expressed support for Iraq during his meeting Monday with Maliki.
Zebari said that Egypt can contribute to Iraq's stability and economic development.

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Oil flow from Iraq to Turkey to resume soon: official

Turkish Energy Ministry said Tuesday that shipment of crude oil would resume within a week from Kirkuk-Yumurtalik oil pipeline, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported.

An official from the ministry was quoted as saying that oil flow in Iraqi side of the pipeline was halted two days ago after an act of sabotage.

"Iraqi E.xecutives said the damage could be fixed in 5 to 6 days," the official said.

Iraqi Oil Ministry spokesman Assim Jihad said the sabotage at the 55th km of the pipeline caused damage and a large quantity of crude oil spilled outside.

The Kirkuk-Yumurtalik oil pipeline connects the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan, carrying the crude oil to Turkey.

Turkey's Petroleum Pipeline Corporation BOTAS is responsible for operation, control, and maintenance of the pipeline within Turkey's borders.

There are six pumping stations in the areas of Silopi, Idil, Midyat, Viransehir, Araban and Pazarcik within Turkish borders.

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Iran says Iraq border incident a "Misunderstanding"

Iran on Tuesday described a border incident with Iraq, which caused oil prices to rise late last week, as a "misunderstanding" and called for experts from both countries to look into border demarcation issues.

The statement came two days after Iraqi officials said Iranian troops had withdrawn partially from a disputed oil area claimed by both Tehran and Baghdad, possibly defusing a border feud straining the two neighbors' ties.

"Our stance has been crystal clear ... it was a misunderstanding," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told a news conference in comments translated by English-language state T.elevision.

Saying the two countries' foreign ministers had reached an "understanding" in a phone conversation on Saturday, he added a committee should be formed to look into border demarcation issues between Iran and Iraq, which fought a 1980-88 war.

"We think it is a technical and expert issue and the experts of both sides should sit down and look into ... specifying the border areas between the two countries so that such misunderstandings are removed," he said.

On Sunday, Iraq's government spokesman said a group of Iranian troops who had taken over an oil well in a remote region along the Iran-Iraq border last week were no longer in control of the well, which Iraq considers part of its Fakka oilfield.

A border official in Iran was quoted on the same day as saying Iranian forces had returned to their original position after dismantling a barricade built by Iraqi soldiers near the disputed oil well.

Global oil prices climbed on Friday following initial media reports that Iranian troops had commandeered an Iraqi oil well.

Iran and Iraq have a long history of border feuds, including one that escalated into the eight-year war in the 1980s.

The relationship warmed after Sunni Arab Saddam Hussein's ousting in 2003, when Shi'ites took over in Baghdad and trade and religious tourism picked up. Iran is also a predominantly Shi'ite Muslim state.

According to Iraqis, the well is one of seven that comprise Fakka, a relatively small field that now produces about 10,000 barrels of oil per day. Iraqi officials say the well in question has only been operative briefly, before the Iran-Iraq war.

Iran says the well falls within Iranian borders.

"The best solution is ... for the experts to sit down and investigate the issue," Mehmanparast said.

"A committee will review the demarcation and the border lines to remove any possible misunderstanding and to find solutions to that," he said.

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Security Council extends development fund for Iraq for one more year

The UN Security Council has renewed for another year a development fund set up immediately after the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 in order to meet the country’s humanitarian needs, economic reconstruction and infrastructure repairs, according to an official statement.

“In a letter to the 15-member body earlier this month, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Kamel al-Maliki asked that the Development Fund for Iraq be extended pending new arrangements to be formulated next year to ensure that oil revenue continues to be used fairly and in the interests of the Iraqi people in keeping with international best practices with respect to transparency, accountability and integrity,” read the statement that was published on the web site of the UN News Centre.

“The Council set up the trust fund in May 2003 so that oil and other revenues could be paid into it, to be disbursed at the discretion of the then US-led Provisional Authority for humanitarian and economic reconstruction, replacing the previous oil-for-food programme that allowed the sanctions-bound Saddam Hussein government to use some oil revenues for the monitored purchase of humanitarian supplies.”

“As of the end of 2008, the Fund had received nearly $180 billion from oil exports, the balance of the oil-for-food funds held under escrow by the UN and proceeds from frozen assets, according to a recent report by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.”

“‘During the remainder of 2009 and in 2010, we will take action to recover the international financial standing of Iraq while at the same time managing oil and gas revenues in order to benefit the people of Iraq,’ Mr. al–Maliki wrote in his letter, stressing that such goals cannot be achieved without the continued assistance of the international community in extending the Fund,” according to the statement.

“In its unanimously adopted resolution today, the Council noted the Prime Minister’s reaffirmation of the Government’s commitment to resolve debts and settle claims inherited from the previous regime.”

“It also extended until 31 December 2010 the International Advisory and Monitoring Board monitoring the Fund, noting the ’significant role’ both have played in helping the Government to ensure that Iraq’s resources are being used transparently and accountably for the benefit of the Iraqi people.

In August the Council said it believed the Government must take greater responsibility for the management of its own resources,” it concluded.

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Turkish firm to hold exhibition in Basra

A delegation comprised of representatives of a Turkish firm has discussed with the governor of Basra the possibility of holding an exhibition of its products in the province.

“The Turkish delegation asked to provide a place for the exhibition following an agreement with the municipality about the selection of a suitable place for this purpose,” Governor Nizar Rabie al-Jabiri told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

The proposed locations include Basra Airport, Shatt al-Arab district, Abi al-Khaseeb district or near the Sports City, the governor pointed out.

The exhibition, which will be held in May 2010, will encourage other firms to converge on Basra, the governor indicated.

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