Thread: Archive News - Iraqi Dinar Think Tank - 01/10/09 - 27/03/10

Originally Posted by Seaview

Baghdad operations take proactive measures & inspection campaigns in most areas of capital

A spokesman for Baghdad operations, Major General Qassim Atta, take preventive measures for the security forces, including the implementation of an inspection and restrictions on movement in most parts of the capital.

Separately, security sources and other military information to the receipt of the possible introduction of car bombs in Baghdad, which followed the leadership of the armed forces issued orders to close all entrances to the capital.

The sources said that Baghdad has seen Tuesday morning, cut down several bridges, main roads and the imposition of a curfew in Sadr City and New Baghdad, Palestine Street, in addition to other neighborhoods next to the Rusafa district of Baya, as well as information and inspiration of the session and Jihad al-Karkh side.

http://www.radiodijla.com/cgi-bin/ne...?id=2010-01-12

Bomb plot prompts Baghdad lockdown

Iraqi security forces have sealed off large parts of Baghdad, the capital, for several hours after threats of car bombings.

The move on Tuesday followed raids by the police across the city in which 25 men were arrested and hundreds of kilograms of explosives seized, local media said.

The raids followed a tip-off that a series of car bombings were planned in Baghdad.

Security forces have been on heightened alert ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for March 7.

"Terrorist groups intended to detonate car bombs in Baghdad on Tuesday morning," Qassim Atta, a spokesman for the city's military command, said in a statement.

"The security measures were imposed to protect civilians, which included shutting off many roads and taking steps to find the suspected cars," Atta said.

'Government targets'

Hundreds of checkpoints were set up throughout the city, in measures not seen since the peak of violence in the country in 2006 and 2007.
The lockdowns caused gridlock of vehicles on roads into the city. Many people were forced to travel by foot, while police helicopters flew overhead.

Bridges into the centre of the city had been closed due to the alleged bomb plot but were reopened by 9.15am (0615GMT).

The plot targeted "sensitive government sites", Ali al-Dabbagh, a government spokesman, said.

Mohammed al-Askari, the defence ministry spokesman, said that security forces had received "tips about places [where people were making] car and vest bombs," that led to the raids.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/mi...045801729.html

Large amounts of explosives found in Baghdad

Large amounts of explosives were seized today during search raids in the capital, the Baghdad Operations Command (BOC) said.

“The seized explosives included 200 km of TNT, 200 kg of C4, 250 liters of ammonium nitrate and 60 mortar shells,” the semi-official al-Iraqiya TV said today.

Earlier today, BOC spokesperson Maj. Gen. Qassem Ata said that strict security measures had been implemented in the capital Baghdad following intelligence reports about a planned suicide attack.

http://en.aswataliraq.info/?p=125070

Baghdad gridlock after bomb scare
Iraqi security forces have been deployed en-masse in Baghdad, bringing the capital to a near standstill.

Security officials say the lockdown was imposed after they received intelligence that militants were planning attacks across Baghdad.
Police have blocked off access to some roads and thoroughfares in the city.

Last month a series of car bombs in Baghdad killed more than 120 people. Security has been tightened ahead of a crucial general election in March.
Clampdowns of this sort have become rare in the past two years.

BBC Baghdad correspondent Jim Muir says the police have dismissed rumours that a senior politician had been assassinated and that the clampdown was purely preventative.

Official figures show that violence across the country has fallen in the past 18 months.

But in the past five months Baghdad has been rocked by a series of large suicide bombings near government targets, causing mass casualties.

The Iraqi government has been criticised for its handling of security in the capital. Government officials blame the violence on members of Saddam Hussein's Baath party, working with al-Qaeda and other militant Sunni Arab groups.

Jim Muir says there is a strong belief that more such attempts will be made with the approach of the general election in March.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/mid...st/8453774.stm

Iraqi handed $85,000 reward for car bomb tip-off
An Iraqi man was awarded 85,000 dollars for informing security forces of a car bomb in Baghdad, the first such reward after funds were dramatically upped for tip-offs, a military spokesman said Tuesday.

“The prime minister decided to reward a citizen who provided information regarding the presence of a car bomb in Jamaa, giving him 100 million Iraqi dinars,” said Major General Qassim Atta, the spokesman for Baghdad operations command.

The identity of the man was not released for security reasons.
On December 16, the Iraqi government approved plans to offer rewards of up to 85,000 dollars for tip-offs about car bombs.

The decision came after Defence Minister Abdel Qader Obeidi asked parliament for funds to recruit informers, saying that the authorities lacked sufficient intelligence about insurgents.

http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/...-tip-off-am-06

The Legality Of Iraqi Oil Contracts Remains Questionable

Two recent developments have brought to the forefront of our attention the legality issue pertaining to the oil contracts concluded or to be concluded as results of the two Iraqi bid rounds, and also in my view the contract for the al-Ahdab oilfield, signed with CNPC. The first development is related to the modus operandi of the E.xecutive Branch in ‘approving’ these important and vital deals, and the second is related to an action by the Legislature contesting the persistent efforts by the E.xecutive in circumventing the role and duties of the Parliament in debating the contents and consequences of these contracts and the enactment process of such contracts by relevant laws.

The purpose of this article is to shed light on these two important developments, review what has taken place and assess possible implications, and it concludes that such an approval process by the government not only put the legality of such contracts into very serious doubt and jeopardy, but also contravenes the minimum standard of good transparent participatory governance and accountability requirements.

The E.xecutive Branch’s Approval Process
Husain al-Shahristani, the Iraqi Minister of Oil, has frequently affirmed that the Ministry of Oil has the right to sign and concludes these contracts, and once the Council of Ministers (COM) approves them they become legal and binding for Iraq. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has confirmed this proposition in his statement at the opening of the second bid round that took place in Baghdad on 11 December (MEES, 21/28 December 2009).

A growing body of legal and professional opinion has been put forward to contest such a claim, suggesting the unconstitutionality of actions by the E.xecutive in this matter. Also, most if not all international oil companies (IOCs) had expressed serious concerns regarding the “legal frameworks” governing such long-term contractual relationships.

Neither time nor space permit me to dwell on this complex matter. However, I will examine how the COM has actually approved the contract for Rumaila oilfield concluded with BP/CNPC.

In an ‘indirect’ debate on al-Jazeera International (the ‘Inside Iraq’ program on 18 December 2009) between the current Iraqi oil minister Dr Hussain Shahristani and former oil minister Issam al-Chalabi, a reference was made to a memorandum prepared by the legal advisor to the prime minister regarding the Rumaila contract. While Dr Shahristani undermined the seriousness of the issues raised by the said memo, Mr Chalabi disagreed and emphasized the seriousness of many matters raised therein. A few days before that another former oil minister, Ibrahim Bahr al-'Ulum gave a very interesting interview to the Iraqi government newspaper al-Sabah (14 December 2009) in which he also made reference to the same memo.

Immediately after the debate I asked a colleague if he could provide me with copy of that memo. Shortly afterward I received a scanned, signed copy of the document. The five-page memo was signed on 15 October 2009 by Fadhil Muhammad Jawad, Legal Advisor to the Prime Minister for Legal Affairs and Head of the Legal Committee. The memo mentions 65 observations regarding the Rumaila contract.

At the outset I must say that most of, if not all, of the 65 observations are very serious indeed. Previously, as early as 20 June 2009, I had covered most of the issues in my assessments of the Model Contracts, and many other colleagues did so too. My assessments were published and made public in many journals (MEES, 27 July 2009) and websites, and I personally e-mailed copies to senior members of the COM, the Ministry of Oil and the Parliament.

However, what is even more alarming and causes serious concern are the implications of what was mentioned in the introduction of the said memo. It refers to the instruction by COM on 13 October 2009 to assess the Rumaila contract, and the Legal Committee had met on 14 October 2009 for that purpose and “without having previous information on the matter”, “not having enough time” and after “preliminary reading” the Legal Advisor, upon authorization by the Legal Committee, made his 65 remarks on the contract.

This has generated the followings questions, worries and concerns:

• Why and how is it possible that the Legal Advisor to the Prime Minister for Legal Affairs and Head of the Legal Committee, and all members of the said committee had no previous information on the Rumaila contract? It is worth recalling that the cabinet had approved the award of Rumaila in its meeting No 24 dated 1 July 2009 (a day after the auction). A time span of 105 days could have been enough to seriously and thoroughly review the contract and suggest improvements!
  
• This suggests that: either the Ministry of Oil did not provide the Cabinet (the Legal Advisor to the PM or the Oil and Gas Committee of the COM) with the draft of the model contract, on which the award was based; or the ministry did provide the Cabinet with the model contract but the Legal Advisor to the Prime Minister, and other members of the said committee either did not actually receive the model contract or did not pay any attention to it!
  
• If the Ministry of Oil did not send the model contract to the COM in spite of the fact that the contract was given to IOCs between 23 April 2009 (the date of the last version of the contract) and 29 June 2009 (one day before the first bid round), the question then is why the ministry did not give the model contract to the COM? Furthermore, the ministry did not share or officially involve the parliament or its Oil, Gas and Natural Resources Committee in any phase of preparing or finalizing the drafts of such model contracts.
  
• Furthermore, the information on the COM website regarding COM meeting No 38 dated 13 October 2009 indicates in item (1) that the Committee (which Committee?) had agreed on Rumaila. This date of approval is the same date on which the Legal Advisor was requested to give an opinion, which he delivered on 15 October 2009! Obviously there must be a question over this apparent request for a legal opinion on a matter that has been approved!
  
• The Rumaila contract was signed on 3 November 2009 without any confirmed indications that the 65 observations by the Legal Advisor had been accommodated or the contract was redrafted accordingly before signing. The seriousness of the 65 observations requires a good deal of tough negotiation to reach agreement, and my experience in contracts negotiation would lead me to suspect whether such negotiation took place. Furthermore, I suspect that the Ministry of Oil had not succeeded in amending the Rumaila contract as it should be.
  
• The above would indicate that even the authorization by the COM was not granted clearly, and the due process in approving this important deal has not been adhered to. And since the Parliament did not give its approval, then the legality of signing the Rumaila contract was confined to the Ministry of Oil only, and this is neither permissible nor constitutional.

Based on the above I prepared on the same day a short assessment, which was posted through my mailing list, which includes senior members in the COM, the Ministry of Oil and the Parliament, and also posted on the Iraq Oil Report website. As a consequence of my assessment above, a ‘text document’ was sent to me and to others in one mailing list. This document was said to be the answer of the Ministry of Oil to the memo by the Legal Advisor referred to above.

This unsigned document, was allegedly prepared by four officials (names and positions were given) from the ministry while they were in Istanbul (at a ‘road show’ for the second round bidding – MEES, 26 October 2009), indicating that they received the observations of the Legal Advisor through the email at “13.45 local time on 16 November 2009”, prepared their response after only “three hours”, and “sent it to the Deputy Minister for Extraction Affairs” (DMEA).

The document provides ‘answers’ to the 65 items raised by the Legal Advisor. Leaving aside the strength, accuracy and legality of the opinions expressed in the document, and assuming it is an ‘official’ position (though without reference number, seal, signatures, pdf copy etc) there remain the following concerns:

• Was the document sent from DMEA to the Minister of Oil and then to the COM?
  
• Did the Legal Advisor for the PM receive the ‘official’ document from the ministry, and if so did he accept the contents of the document in all or in part?
  
• When the Rumaila contract was “agreed to” by COM on 13 October 2009, then the opinion of the Legal Advisor becomes “redundant” even if it is correct, justifiable and legitimate. He must have known that a post-approval opinion had less likelihood of reversing the taken decision. Was he still hoping for that reversal, or did he want it for the record to protect himself, his legal credentials and professionalism? This remains to be seen in the future.
  
• By the same token, the three hours Istanbul answer was also unnecessary and redundant as far as the decision-making process is concerned. The question is, again, why they have done it? Probably for the record!

I should mention at this juncture that I have received recent information indicating that the Legal Advisor has submitted two additional memos – one related to West Qurna-1 oil field and the other to Zubair oil field – and both memos are, as my source puts it, “much stronger than the first one.” However, until I have scanned/signed copies of these two memos, I cannot at this moment confirm or deny the existence and contents of these two memos.

Legal Case Before The Federal Court
The second significant development is related to a legal case currently before the Federal/Constitutional Court in Baghdad. The case was filed by the parliamentarian Shatha al-Musawi. Media sources describe her as independent and she is not running for re-election in March 2010. She, as plaintiff, is suing both the prime minister and the oil minister on the grounds of unconstitutionality regarding these oil contracts. The Federal Court was set for a hearing on 22 December 2009, but this was postponed to 11 January 2010.

If and when both Mr Maliki and Dr Shahristani, as defendants in legal terms, present before the Federal Court, they might encounter an impossible task in substantiating their claim that the approval of contracts by the COM, as outlined above, fulfils proper, trustworthy and credible deal-making requirements. With the known parliamentary stand on these contracts being more convincing than what the E.xecutive branch claims and demonstrates, the Federal Court ruling will have historical significance.

Implications
Let us put the above discussion in its right context and proper perspective. The 10 oilfields awarded during the first and second bid rounds cover in total 62.7bn barrels of proven reserves, representing 54.5% of Iraq’s 115bn barrels of proven reserves. The said oil fields have a combined current production capacity of 1.603mn b/d. If they are developed as was stipulated in the bid offers they would have a total production capacity of 11.065mn b/d, meaning an incremental production capacity of 9.462mn b/d. Each oil field has a contract with duration of 20 years at least, and each contract has 43 Articles, 6 Annexes and 4 Addendums. The capital investment and operating cost, which are eventually payable by Iraq, could very well exceed $100bn and possible revenues would be in trillions of dollars. Simply put, there is much too much money and too many interests involved here!

Now, a matter of such magnitude, in a country that depends on oil for its development and the welfare of its current and future generations, surely deserves serious consideration, thorough assessment and good transparent participatory functional governance with full accountability and an open term of limitation.

Yet, as the course of events narrated above shows, it took the COM only one meeting (on 13 October 2009) to agree on the Rumaila contract without even waiting for the opinion of their Legal Advisor, and three hours only for four officials from the Ministry of Oil, while abroad in Istanbul, to restate the position of their ministry.

If what has taken place for Rumaila oil field is any indication, it would only suggest that COM approval for the remaining nine contracts will be a matter of a ‘rubber stamp’ approval process – a process that contravenes the minimum standard of good transparent participatory governance and accountability requirements, which the current government had committed itself to through the International Compact with Iraq (ICI).

The Parliament and the Federal Court should take a firm stand, since the legality of such an approval process is very questionable and stands on very thin ice even on procedural matters and due diligence considerations in addition to its unconstitutionality. It is too risky to leave the wealth of the nation and the rights of future generations to be handled in such a dubious way.

Ahmed Mousa Jiyad is an independent development consultant, scholar and associate of the Centre for Global Energy Studies. He was formerly a senior economist with the Iraq National Oil Company and Iraq’s Ministry of Oil, Chief Expert for the Council of Ministers, Director at the Ministry of Trade, and International Specialist with UN organizations in Uganda, Sudan and Jordan. He is now based in Norway.

http://www.petroleumworld.com/sunopf10011001.htm

Originally Posted by Seaview

Bomb plot prompts Baghdad lockdown

Iraqi security forces have sealed off large parts of Baghdad, the capital, for several hours after threats of car bombings.

The move on Tuesday followed raids by the police across the city in which 25 men were arrested and hundreds of kilograms of explosives seized, local media said.

The raids followed a tip-off that a series of car bombings were planned in Baghdad.

Security forces have been on heightened alert ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for March 7.

"Terrorist groups intended to detonate car bombs in Baghdad on Tuesday morning," Qassim Atta, a spokesman for the city's military command, said in a statement.

"The security measures were imposed to protect civilians, which included shutting off many roads and taking steps to find the suspected cars," Atta said.

'Government targets'

Hundreds of checkpoints were set up throughout the city, in measures not seen since the peak of violence in the country in 2006 and 2007.
The lockdowns caused gridlock of vehicles on roads into the city. Many people were forced to travel by foot, while police helicopters flew overhead.

Bridges into the centre of the city had been closed due to the alleged bomb plot but were reopened by 9.15am (0615GMT).

The plot targeted "sensitive government sites", Ali al-Dabbagh, a government spokesman, said.

Mohammed al-Askari, the defence ministry spokesman, said that security forces had received "tips about places [where people were making] car and vest bombs," that led to the raids.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/mi...045801729.html

maybe their people are trying to send a message to the Iraqi government to get off your ass and move forward in the economical scene....RV...get these oil companies in there to start drilling so that ALL the people can benefit...not just the few in office..which is what is happening now for the past 6 years...IMHO...Pat

Originally Posted by bigopie

maybe their people are trying to send a message to the Iraqi government to get off your ass and move forward in the economical scene....RV...get these oil companies in there to start drilling so that ALL the people can benefit...not just the few in office..which is what is happening now for the past 6 years...IMHO...Pat

Sounds like terrorists acts to me.

i'm sure it is Livefree....but when that's the only way of life that they know because their government hasn't done anything really constructive in the past 4 years to help the economy generate more money to the working class people this is what you are going to get..even the ranks of their security personnel and army regulars are probably infiltrated with terrorists among them....and the longer it takes for this government to start their economy rolling the more of these acts you will see..especially with the U.S. pulling out its troops and the upcoming election..not saying an RV is the complete answer..but start giving these people a CHANCE to afford to make a living and you might see less and less people trying to blow themselves up for 2000 dollars so their families have money to survive on....IMHO...Pat

Iraqi Drilling Company plans to drill more than 100 wells this year

The director of the Iraqi Drilling Company, on Tuesday, the company plans to drill more than 100 oil wells next year, which is twice the number of wells that were drilled last year's 53 wells in various parts of Iraq.

The Idriss Yasiri told (Voices of Iraq) that the Iraqi Drilling Company "intends to drill more than 100 oil wells in various parts of Iraq except the current year" which is what constitutes "one that twice the number of wells drilled during the year 2009, amounting to 53 wells in various parts of Iraq, the highest number the company's history."

The Yasiri that there was "a major development company has experienced after 2003 did not include the number of wells, but also the number of meters which have been dug, which amounted to 111.2 thousand square meters, compared to 96 meters by the year 2003," The company "has purchased 24 new rig, which we rely often achieve a qualitative leap in the number of wells this year."

On the constraints of work digging wells Yasiri said it was "primarily related to the foundation with instructions and the Ministry of Planning which impede the arrival of materials needed by the company, as well as monitoring the funds necessary for that."

http://radionawa.com/Ar/NewsDetailN....885&LinkID=105

Shall confer with the governor of Basra Oil Company Italy is possible to run 15 thousand unemployed

Search the governor of Basra Cltag Abboud Mayah Tuesday with the chief of security and logistical support to the Italian oil company ENI assigned to develop the Zubair oil field could provide jobs for 15 thousand unemployed in the province.

Mayah, said that "the meeting the delegation of the Italian company ENI oil by a discussion of its work plan to develop the field Zubair won a contract to develop an investment from the oil ministry in the first round of licensing."

"We have been talking about the possibility of providing job opportunities for people of the city as the Italian company that promised us savings of over 15 thousand jobs for the unemployed in Basra."

Mayah said that "the next few days will witness a direct Italian national oil company (ENI) and with the combined companies in the development of Zubair oil field after the issuance of official approvals by the Prime Minister."

http://www.radiodijla.com/cgi-bin/ne...?id=2010-01-12