Thread: Archive Latest News - Think Tank - 01/01/08 - 14/04/08

Article 140 referred to constitutional court to consider its legality- source

The Iraqi parliament's presidency and political bloc leaders have agreed to refer Article 140 of the Iraqi constitution pertaining to the status of oil-rich Kirkuk to the constitutional court to determine its legality, a senior parliamentary source said on Thursday.

"On Thursday morning, members of the parliament's Constitutional Amendments Committee discussed with Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani changing the Iraqi flag and Article 140 pertaining to the normalization of the situation in Kirkuk. The parties agreed to refer the article to the constitutional court to determine its legality," the head of the committee, Hammam Mahmoud, said in exclusive statements to the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).

Article 140 of the Iraqi constitution is related to the normalization of the situation in Kirkuk , an important and mixed city of Kurds, Turkmen, Christians and Arabs. Kurds seek to include the city in the autonomous Iraq's Kurdistan region, while Sunni Arabs, Turkmen and Shiite Arabs oppose the incorporation. The article currently stipulates that all Arabs in Kirkuk be returned to their original locations in southern and central Iraqi areas, and formerly displaced residents returned to Kirkuk, 250 km northeast of Baghdad .

Iraq's Kurdistan President Massoud al-Barazani had urged the central government in Baghdad to speed up changing the Iraqi flag ahead of the Arab parliamentarians' conference in Arbil, scheduled for February 2008.

Barazani affirmed that the Kurds "will never raise the current flag because it still carries the three stars symbolizing the (former) Baath Party."

Aswat Aliraq

Parliament holds regular session, postpones accountability bill

The Iraqi parliament held its regular session on Thursday under Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, while voting on the accountability and justice law was postponed until further notice.

"The parliament held its regular session today and started with discussing the accountability and justice draft law," a media source told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI) under condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, MP from the Sadrist bloc Maha Adel said "the parliament postponed discussing the accountability and justice draft law until further notice due to the disagreement among a number of political blocs over that law."

The draft is an alternative for the debaathification law, enacted by former U.S. civil administrator Paul Bremer, who ruled Iraq after the fall of the former regime in April 2003.

Since it was first announced by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in June 2007, the draft law, dubbed the accountability and justice law, is facing fierce opposition and several reservations, mostly by the Sadrists, who occupy 30 seats in parliament.

Once the law is passed, about 30,000 Baathists, or members of the former ruling Baath Party, would be allowed to return to their original jobs and receive their retirement rights.

Aswat Aliraq

Turkish Tanks are full of Kirkuk's Oil

Oil pumping activities from Kirkuk's northern fields to the Turkish port of Ceyhan were halted without setting a specific date for resumption, an official source form the North Oil Company has said.

“The stopping is due to the fact that Ceyhan's oil reservoirs are totally full with Iraqi crude oil," the source, who requested anonymity, has said.

The export process "was before the stoppage going at a capacity of 480, 000 barrels per day (bpd)," he said.

The source did not say when the oil pumping would resume but said “the date to re-pump oil to Ceyhan has to do with the unloading of oil reservoirs there."

He added “The pumping activities were intermittent since the start of oil exporting on Monday evening”.

An official source in the North Oil Company told VOI on Monday that oil pumping to Ceyhan "stopped but would resume during the next 72 hours."

The largest part of Iraqi oil is exported via the southern oilfields in the province of Basra , which overlooks the Gulf.

The oil-rich city of Kirkuk lies 250 km northeast of the Iraqi capital Baghdad.

Iraq Development Program - Turkish Tanks are full of Kirkuk's Oil

Update.....

Shell and Total vying for gasfield in Iraq’s Sunni heartland

Shell and Total are vying to develop a huge gasfield in what was Iraq’s most violent province as a source for exports to Europe.

The Iraqi Government held talks with a number of potential companies last week regarding development of the Akkas field in Anbar province, northwest of Baghdad.

Akkas, close to the border with Syria, is thought to contain up to seven trillion cubic feet of gas – up to 6 per cent of Iraq’s estimated total of 112 trillion cubic feet. The field is capable of producing up to 50 million cubic feet a day, but this could be raised to 450 million cubic feet per day if developed further.

The Iraqi Government is keen to get the field operational as quickly as possible, using nearby Syria as an export route to Europe to restore revenues. A statement from Shell said that the Iraqi Oil Ministry had asked Shell to undertake “a long-term production test”. Total was unavailable for comment, but is also understood to be interested.

In the longer term, both Western oil giants hope to win an equity stake in the project, which would also provide a toehold for further long-term exploration and development in Iraq, which has the world’s third-largest oil reserves.

The development of Akkas could mark a turning point in the fortunes of Iraq’s oil industry. Since last summer the security situation has improved and that has encouraged the oil giants to look again at the area, which includes the country’s western deserts. Akkas is 40km from the Syrian border and is close to existing government-owned facilities in Syria. Shell has been active in Syria for 25 years and operates a joint venture with the Syrian Government and Chinese and Indian partners.

It is not yet clear whether the Iraqi Government will pick a Western oil major, such as Shell or Total, to help to develop the field. It may opt, instead, for a partnership with an oil services company, such as Halliburton or Schlumberger, which would then supply the technical expertise to develop the field and related pipelines to Syria for processing and export.

Last month, Ahmad al-Shammaa, Iraq’s Deputy Oil Minister, said that the Government had been hoping to issue a first round of tenders for a number of oilfields early this year.

They are expected to concentrate on the redevelopment of Akkas, as well as other fields such as Rumeila South, Rumeila North, Subba/Luhais, Zubair and Missan in southern Iraq, and Kirkuk in northern Iraq.

Iraq Development Program - Shell and Total vying for gasfield in Iraq’s Sunni heartland

Waset agriculture sector suffers from government neglect

The Agriculture Ministry has decided to ban fishing as well as selling and marketing fishes among provinces between February 15 and early July 2008 in order to preserve fish wealth in the period of proliferation.
In another context, the agriculture sector in Waset Province is suffering from lack of water and government neglect, which cause agricultural lands to turn into abandoned territories.

On the other hand, former Oil Minister Ibrahim Baher Al Uloum proposed on Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki to distribute the excess of oil on citizens.

Alsumaria Iraqi Satellite TV Network | Economics News | Waset agriculture sector suffers from government neglect

Talabani to set forth Iraq political project

The political process in Iraq will be boosted up in the coming days on different fronts, MP Fryad Razendy reported to Al Hayat Newspaper as Iraqi President Jalal Talabani is expected to introduce a new complementary project that includes the political process and the governmental situation. President Talabani will start early next week talks with Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki and other political parties to enrich the project and agree on its final version. An informed source told Al Hayat Newspaper that Talabani’s initiative stipulates the return of Accordance Front or Islamic Party to Cabinet in return of renewing support to the Prime Minister and upgrading the authorities of the presidency council.

Alsumaria Iraqi Satellite TV Network | Iraq News | Talabani to set forth Iraq political project

Iraqi Forces arrest Saudi Al Qaeda suspects

In an interview with Saudi Ukaz Newspaper, national security advisor Mowaffaq Al Rubaie revealed that Iraqi security forces arrested hundreds of Saudis belonging to Al Qaeda who have entered Iraq across borders with Syria, including names listed among wanted lists in Saudi Arabia. The newspaper reported Al Rubaie as saying that he will hand Saudi security officials during his coming visit to Saudi Arabia a consistent and documented file of detainees’ lists and relevant accurate intelligence.

Moreover, Al Rubaie said that Iraqi authorities will announce during the coming months its final victory on Al Qaeda after they realized major achievements in their war against terrorism in addition to preparations taken in the current stage to carry out the final fight against Al Qaeda.
On the other hand, Al Rubaie underlined the government’s efforts to build up security, military and intelligence forces before the end of the current year, which allows replacing foreign forces.

In a related issue, spokesman for Imposing Law Operation Major Qassem Ata told Al Hayat Newspaper that security forces killed more than 220 wanted people and arrested 180 other suspects. In addition, they disabled a number of explosives noting that the security operation is ongoing and that security will improve within the coming months.

Alsumaria Iraqi Satellite TV Network | Iraq News | Iraqi Forces arrest Saudi Al Qaeda suspects

Update......

Iraq MP: Kurds, government stall Oil Law

The leader of the Iraqi Parliament's Energy Committee has accused Iraq's Kurdish leadership and the national ministerial council of holding up a draft oil law.

Abdul Hadi al-Hassani also said the federal government should keep up the pressure against the Kurdistan Regional Government for moving forward unilaterally on developing its oil sector in the north.

"The Parliament awaits for the government's approval of any of the draft law's four copies," Hassani told the Voices of Iraq news agency. He blamed the holdup on politics.

The draft law has been under negotiation for more than a year and is stuck in disputes between the Kurds, who want decentralized control over the oil sector, and Iraqi Arab leaders who want the national government in charge.

The law has seen many ups and downs. It was approved last February. Then a dispute broke out over which oil fields would be under the central government's control. It's also been altered a number of times -- so much that two of the three original authors oppose it -- and there are now more than one version.

Hassani's comments appear to mean the law isn't before the Parliament, as previously thought, but a step behind in the legislative process, waiting for a final version from the council of ministers.

Hassani reiterated the national government's reference of the KRG deals as "illegal." The KRG has passed its own regional oil law and signed more than 20 deals in the past six months. It feels the national government is moving too slow.

"The central government can use its political relations with the neighboring countries to pressure the government of Iraq's Kurdistan region to cancel these contracts," he said.

The Oil Ministry, which has threatened to blacklist firms that signed with the KRG, has told a South Korean oil importer to decide between purchasing Iraq oil and being part of a consortium in a KRG deal.

International Security - Energy - Briefing - UPI.com

Update......

Iraq and Shell discuss gas field output tests

Baghdad: The Iraqi oil ministry is negotiating with Royal Dutch Shell to conduct output tests on a prized natural gas field in western Iraq, the ministry's spokesman said on Thursday.

Assem Jihad said these negotiations are part of the ministry's plans to develop the country's oil and gas fields. Four other companies are taking part in the talks, which he said were held last month and will resume "in the coming days".

"There is an active movement by the ministry to develop a number of oil and gas fields in southern, central and northern Iraq," Jihad said.
"The ministry is contacting oil majors to submit their studies about these fields in order to achieve the ideal investment and increase production."

In London, a spokeswoman for Royal Dutch Shell told the Dow Jones Newswire that it was in talks with Iraq to conduct a "long-term production" test on Akkas gas field in Iraq's former insurgent stronghold of Anbar west of Baghdad.

"The Iraqi Ministry of Oil has requested Shell to facilitate a long-term production test for the Akkas gas field," the spokeswoman said in an e-mail.

"Shell has responded to the request to facilitate with a proposal, which will now be subject to further negotiations," she added.

Iraq has the world's third-largest oil reserves with an estimated 115 billion barrels, and also sits on an estimated 112 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves.

Its Akkas gas field, which has five wells that are ready to be interconnected, is expected to produce up to 500 million cubic metres day of gas that could be pumped through Syria to consumers in Europe.

Jihad didn't say how much natural gas Iraq would supply Syria, but the oil ministry has said the field could provide the Syrian market with approximately 50 million cubic feet per day.

Gulfnews: Iraq and Shell discuss gas field output tests

Update......

Iraq Tries To Convince IOCs That Less Is More

Four international oil companies (IOC) are gearing up for another round of negotiations with Iraqi oil ministry officials later this month on technical support contracts for producing fields. BP, Chevron, Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell submitted technical and financial proposals in December for five producing fields and have already received counterproposals from the Iraqi side, industry and Iraqi sources told PIW. At this stage, the gap between the two sides is still wide.

http://www.energyintel.com/DocumentD...ment_id=220896