Thread: Archive News - Iraqi Dinar Think Tank - 22/06/2010 - 04/10/2010

German firm strikes deal with Iraqi Kurds to transport Iraqi gas to Europe

A German firm has struck a cooperation deal with the Kurdish regional government in northern Iraq for the transport of Iraqi natural gas to Europe.

The German investment firm, RWA, says it will construct a pipeline linking Iraqi gas fields to Nabucco pipeline conceived to cut Europe’s reliance on Russian gas.

An RWA statement, quoting Ashti Horami, Kurdish regional government’s minister of natural resources, said that the Kurdish region could pump up 20 billion cubic meters of natural gas to Europe.

RWA, says the statement, will build the pipeline linking northern Iraq with Turkey.

There are no plans to extend the pipeline to Iran which has one of the world’s largest reserves of natural gas.

Iran already transports huge quantities of natural gas to Turkey via a special pipeline.

The proceeds from the gas exports will be funneled to central government coffers, Horami was reported as saying.

Iraqi Kurds have increased oil and gas development activities in their semi-independent enclave comprising the provinces of Dahouk, Sulaimaniya and Arbil.

They say they can now produce more than 100,000 barrels of oil a day and have drawn plans to boost output to 1 million barrels in four years.

Iraq has a twin pipeline linking its largest producing oil fields to Turkish terminals on the Mediterranean.

http://www.azzaman.com/english/index...08-29\kurd.htm

Economic Expert: Mali: the monetary policy challenges

Of monetary policy played an important role in the overall economic process and the process of monetary and financial, in particular, but the term is broader in addressing the economic problems facing the world's economic systems.

Financial expert in a Samal of financial credit Hussein Abdullah said: "The monetary policy role in organizing and managing the cash block in a step towards achieving the goals of monetary stabilization in prices, domestic currency deposits and credit is to maintain the exchange rate and full liberalization of capital account and independent monetary policy and guidance about Achieve local interests exclusively.

He says often Matusband transition economies of the central system toward a market economy is the case with the Iraqi economy at the moment and to embrace market economics as a branch of a future containing the interaction of the forces of supply and demand and challenges of economic, political and rebuild infrastructure devastated by repeated wars and economic sanctions, which lasted for many years

He points out that this gives an indication of some trend to rely on foreign remittances and the trend towards foreign investment, which makes monetary policy faces in the near future real challenges in the face of reduction of the free movement of capital from home and abroad, and constraints on the work of investment and implementation of projects, hence the Texts of the new law as an affirmation of its role in activating the market forces and eliminate dependence on government institutions , especially in funding, hence the institutions of cash in Iraq several steps on the monetary level aimed at strengthening economic and financial stability and work to develop and maintain the stability of domestic prices and create a favorable economic environment in terms of Economic Competitiveness relies principle is important in their financial and economic based on an appropriate mechanism in the law of supply and demand to create future trends and drawing up monetary policies required to replace the currency and the granting of work permits for foreign banks and holding auctions daily foreign exchange banks to investment projects significantly.

He says: that domestic monetary policy there have been attempts to install the process of monetary stability, reduce inflation and activating the role of the domestic financial market and the use of monetary instruments not previously used, including engaging in acts of open market and the establishment of an auction of foreign currencies, as the economic changes taking place in Iraq right now by going Toward a market economy as a cornerstone in a strategy of economic development and face the dilemmas and challenges of current economic situation, especially with the start of the flow of capital into Iraq with improved security and political situation and employment of those funds support the work of reconstruction, development and promotion of the private sector in taking the role of real and serious contribution in the development process Economic development.

http://www.alsabaah.com/paper.php?so...age&sid=107896

Power shortages in Iraq tell story of a ruined country, a failed superpower

One best signal of how ruinous the U.S. occupation of Iraq has been is the story of electricity.

The same signal can be used to assess the ruinous policies and practices of the political factions the U.S. has helped to rule the country.

Practically, there is little or no electricity in Iraq while prior to 2003 major cities used to enjoy minimum 12 hours of non-interrupted supplies from the national grid.

Conditions were supposed to have improved. The former regime was under punitive U.N. trade sanctions; nonetheless, its electricity commission was on its way to reduce outages to the minimum.

In the post-U.S. invasion era, the sanctions were removed and billions of dollars were earmarked to rehabilitate the national grid. But the country has plunged into almost total darkness.

Violent demonstrations, most of them spontaneous, have been mounted in several cities, particularly in southern Iraq.

Several Iraqis have been killed and wounded in these demonstrations. The electricity minister has been sacked and replaced, but power shortages are still worsening.

If you have never seen the inferno that results from temperatures brushing 50 degrees centigrade, you will never appreciate how critical electricity is for a country like Iraq.

U.S. combat troops have withdrawn, leaving behind a country in darkness, after spending countless of billions of dollars on combat missions that ruined cities, villages, roads and orchards and shed rivers of innocent blood.

They left behind their lackeys who are now squabbling, fighting and battling over government posts and privileges.

The fate of their ruined country and the fate of their oppressed people is none of their business.

http://www.azzaman.com/english/index...08-25\kurd.htm

Baghdad to get ‘facelift’ before Arab summit

The Baghdad Municipality or Amanat al-Asima is racing against time to upgrade some of Baghdad’s run-down cities and neighborhoods before next year’s Arab summit.

The Iraqi government has expressed a willingness to host Arab leaders in Baghdad and the authorities are trying to give the violent city a new ‘facelift’.

Baghdad has been the scene of massive car bomb attacks recently which have killed and wounded hundreds of Iraqis.

Many of its streets are dotted with cement blocks and checkpoints and certain streets and neighborhoods are no-go areas.

But Saber al-Aysawi, Baghdad’s mayor, claims conditions will be different by the time Arab leaders flock to Baghdad.

Though it is not yet certain whether the summit will be held in Baghdad, given the spate of the latest upsurge in violence, the authorities are selling the meeting as an indication of relative quiet.

Aysawi said the municipality will “open 22 streets in preparation for the Arab summit next year.”

The streets in question are among the most guarded in Baghdad. They are full of concrete blocks and checkpoints.

But Aysawi said the concrete blocks will be removed along with the checkpoints.

The government says it has earmarked $300 million to upgrade Baghdad hotels and state-owned villas for the event.

http://www.azzaman.com/english/index...08-27\kurd.htm

Gas Fields Bidding – Iraq Readies Contracts

Iraq, site of the world’s third-largest oil reserves, will hold a third bidding round for gas fields which will take place on October 1, an Oil Ministry official has confirmed, according to a report from Bloomberg.

“Definitive model contracts and final tender protocols will be ready on September 10, and the bidding process will be on October 1,” Abdul Mahdy al-Ameedi, deputy director general at Iraq’s Petroleum Contracts and Licensing Directorate, said in a telephone interview.

“We expect the round to be a success, it is now all going fine and everything will be on time,” al-Ameedi said.

It held two licensing rounds last year for oil and gas investments, and the third is specifically for the gas fields Akkas, Mansouriya and Siba, which Iraq is eager to develop for domestic power generation as well as export revenue.

http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/201...ies-contracts/

Originally Posted by Seaview

German firm strikes deal with Iraqi Kurds to transport Iraqi gas to Europe

A German firm has struck a cooperation deal with the Kurdish regional government in northern Iraq for the transport of Iraqi natural gas to Europe.

The German investment firm, RWA, says it will construct a pipeline linking Iraqi gas fields to Nabucco pipeline conceived to cut Europe’s reliance on Russian gas.

An RWA statement, quoting Ashti Horami, Kurdish regional government’s minister of natural resources, said that the Kurdish region could pump up 20 billion cubic meters of natural gas to Europe.

RWA, says the statement, will build the pipeline linking northern Iraq with Turkey.

There are no plans to extend the pipeline to Iran which has one of the world’s largest reserves of natural gas.

Iran already transports huge quantities of natural gas to Turkey via a special pipeline.

The proceeds from the gas exports will be funneled to central government coffers, Horami was reported as saying.

Iraqi Kurds have increased oil and gas development activities in their semi-independent enclave comprising the provinces of Dahouk, Sulaimaniya and Arbil.

They say they can now produce more than 100,000 barrels of oil a day and have drawn plans to boost output to 1 million barrels in four years.

Iraq has a twin pipeline linking its largest producing oil fields to Turkish terminals on the Mediterranean.

http://www.azzaman.com/english/index...08-29\kurd.htm

The Ministry of Oil: a gas between the Government of Kurdistan and Germany 's void and illegal

Considered the Oil Ministry, Sunday, that the contract signed by the Kurdistan Regional Government with German RWE to pump gas supplies in the future to the Nabucco pipeline project is invalid and illegal.

The ministry said in a statement issued today that Iraq is exporting crude oil and gas through the Iraqi oil marketing company exclusively and there is no other hand, empowered to sign contracts with international companies or local in this regard.

The statement added no value to any commitments made other than the Ministry of Oil to export gas via the Nabucco pipeline.

He stressed that any contracts or agreements signed outside the legal framework of the officially approved and Marketing Company (SOMO) is considered invalid and illegal.

The statement said the oil ministry had no right to any other contract for the export of crude oil or gas or their derivatives.

The company R . W . German utility RWE AG said Friday it has signed a cooperation agreement with the government of Iraqi Kurdistan to inject future gas supplies to the Nabucco pipeline project.

A statement of the company in Germany by the Minister for Natural Resources in Kurdistan Ashti Hawrami as saying that he can pump up to 20 billion cubic meters per year across the line to supply gas to Turkey and Europe.

The German company is a shareholder in the Nabucco project, worth 7.9 billion euros ( 10.05 billion dollars), which aims to reduce Europe's dependence on Russian gas supplies through the transfer of the Caspian Sea directly to Turkey and Europe.

In the sixth of last May, Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani and his ministry reached an agreement with the provincial government resources on producing oil fields in the Kurdistan region is secured the revenues of oil exported from the region of the country's treasury.

http://www.ipairaq.com/index.php?nam...onomy&id=29648

America’s New Ambassador to Iraq

America’s new ambassador to Iraq, James Jeffrey, arrived in Baghdad last week and presented his diplomatic credentials to President Jalal Talabani.

He replaces Christopher Hill, who retired after a 16-month stint in the post, and a 33-year career in the diplomatic service.

Unlike Hill, Jeffrey already has wide experience in this part of the world, including serving in Baghdad as deputy chief of mission and then charge d’affaires from June 2004 to June 2005.

Mr Jeffrey could hardly be coming at a more interesting time. The US pulled its combat troops out last week ahead of schedule, and will be scaling back its non-combat military presence over the next year.

Politically, the power vacuum still remains unfilled, to the frustration of many both locally and abroad.

By the time Jeffrey leaves office, we can only hope that Iraq will be further along the road to prosperity, and will not have slipped back further into the violence that we have seen in recent days.

Let’s wish Mr Jeffrey every success in his new post, and hope that he will be a positive force for Iraq’s development.

http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/201...sador-to-iraq/

Asiacell becomes the first Iraqi company to implement a full-fledged enterprise e-recruitment solution
Asiacell, the largest private Iraqi company and the first and only mobile telecommunications company to provide coverage for all of Iraq, is now the first company in Iraq to successfully implement a state-of-the-art e-recruitment solution with the aim of attracting, engaging and hiring exceptional telecom professionals.

Delivered by Hiring Solutions, the intelligent e-recruitment software is on par with the best solutions used by Fortune 500 companies and will enable Asiacell to automate the entire recruitment process from job requisition to on-boarding. The revolutionary software also has the added benefit of features built specifically for the Middle East market, such as Arabic interface and Milestone Trackers for visas and medicals.

Explaining the need for a fundamental shift in the way they recruited people, Mr. Akam Falah Jamil, HR-Expatriate Services Section Head at Asiacell, said: “Recruiting exceptional talent is a challenge globally. The challenge is even bigger when you are trying to hire quality people in Iraq, especially expatriates. We have to compete with telecom companies worldwide for the same set of top industry professionals and we have to do it right to be successful.”

He went on to add: “We wanted a solution that helps us recruit the best local and global talent and simultaneously improves our cost-per-hire and time-to-hire. We wanted to be proactive in our approach to recruitment, build our own private database that could be shared across multiple business units, and we wanted the solution to be up and running in a matter of weeks, all of which Hiring Solutions delivered on.”

In turn, Mr. James Padkin, Director of Client Services at Hiring Solutions, said: “A high-end software is just a small part of a successful e-recruitment solution. This is why we have provided Asiacell with a solution that not only automates and streamlines its hiring processes, but also provides smart sourcing strategies, builds a powerful employer brand, enhances the candidate experience and ensures that recruiters focus on quality candidates rather than waste their time on administrative tasks and reading thousands of CVs.”

Hiring Solutions was chosen in light of its consistent track-record for delivering quality e-recruitment solutions in the Middle East and Africa region. Its world-class Sniperhire software platform is used by over 200 businesses in 42 countries to lower costs and reduce time while hiring exceptional talent.

http://www.arabianbusiness.com/press...s/detail/42502

Banks Urge Privatisation of State Lenders

AFP reports that Iraq’s privately-owned banks have called for the country’s state-owned lenders to be privatised, to break up a near monopoly in lending by politicians whose actions remain stuck in the Saddam-era.

Although foreign cash has flowed in since the US-led invasion of 2003, ministers still opt to use government banks to do business and are failing to use private rivals, which is hampering economic growth, bankers argue.

The lack of a new government and poor security are also stifling efforts among international banks to plant a solid foothold in Iraq, whose economy, with the exception of oil, is showing little sign of improvement despite low inflation and a stable currency.

Fouad al-Hassani, chairman of the Iraqi Private Banking League, said the next government should privatise the seven state-backed lenders to create a level playing field among banks, as promised under the constitution.

“Unless they are privatised the government will still lean on their own banks,” he said. “That is not in line with an open market policy.

“We are looking for a new government so that we can talk to them again. The constitution is very clear on what they should do.”

Iraq currently has 36 privately-owned banks, most of them each holding capital of 50-150 million dollars, compared to 17 private banks during the rule of dictator Saddam Hussein, ousted in the invasion.

http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/201...state-lenders/

Oil: (SOMO) is responsible for all exports of Iraqi oil and gas
Ministry announced Saturday that the Iraqi oil Iraq is exporting crude oil and gas companies across the State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) , and do not exist any other party authorized to sign contracts with international companies or local in this regard ...

And confirmed the ministry said in a statement issued today in response to a statement Company R.W.E Posted on the Kurdistan Regional Government, which came in to read "it had signed a cooperation agreement with the Government of Iraqi Kurdistan to inject future gas supplies to the Nabucco pipeline project."

The statement said that "the export of crude oil and gas and their derivatives is the validity of the Oil Ministry in Baghdad, the federal government exclusively through the Iraqi oil marketing company."

He added that he had "no right to any other contract for the export of crude oil, gas or their derivatives".. Explaining that he had "no value for any commitments made other than the Ministry of Oil to export gas via the Nabucco pipeline."

The statement noted that "any contracts or agreements signed outside the legal framework of the approved official and marketing company (SOMO) is considered invalid and illegal."

The Company announced (R.W.E) German energy services and gas on Friday it signed an agreement with Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq that includes helping them to develop and design infrastructure for the transfer and export of gas, as well as research into methods of export from the region to Turkey and Europe through a pipeline "Nabucco", according to a statement of the company.

The statement quoted the Managing Director Stefan Ioudec saying he "has been discussed with the oil minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government drastically on the utilization of various aspects of this agreement, which would be useful for the region and us."

According to the company statement, "Hawrami assured the federal government in Iraq from the Convention that the gas export revenues, which will benefit the country as a whole."

The "Nabucco" is a pipeline has the support of the United States wishing to ease the adoption of Western countries on Russian gas, is scheduled to pass from Azerbaijan across the borders of Turkey's eastern access to Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary, and from there to large repositories for storage in Austria.

http://www.oil.iraqiamedia.com/index...atest&Itemid=1