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Fire erupts in Baiji pipelines
On the other hand, officials in Baiji principal refinery announced that local pipeline that transports crude oil between the biggest refinery in Iraq and another plant was halted because of a fire that erupted yesterday. Officials affirmed that the fire erupted 7 kilometers west of Baiji because a leakage from holes that oil burglars made in the pipelines
Alsumaria Iraqi Satellite TV Network | Economics News | Fire erupts in Baiji pipelines
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Pumping oil towards Ceyhan Turkish port resumed
A naval source said today that Iraq resumed pumping crude towards Turkey late yesterday night. The source added that 5 cargo ships wait in Ceyhan Turkish port in order to carry 4 million and 200 thousand barrels.
Alsumaria Iraqi Satellite TV Network | Economics News | Pumping oil towards Ceyhan Turkish port resumed
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No improvement in electricity before 2011
Minister of electricity said that the ministry's projects did not give full results in the area of improving electricity and there will be no improvement in it before 2011, attributing that to several reasons, mainly the unwillingness of international companies to work in Iraq because of security conditions.
Kareem Waheed said, during his visit to the Directorate of electricity in Babylon, that 2007 was an embarrassing year to the ministry because of the continued interruptions in electricity resulting from fuel shortages because the pipelines transporting fuel lie in hot areas where they had been exposed to acts of vandalism. In addition, there are types of fuel that the Oil Ministry was not able to provide such as gas oil (diesel) due to its limited production and the inability to import it from neighboring countries for several reasons; there are power stations that are still inoperative such as the stations of: Najibiyah, Nasiriyah, Baiji, Al-Quds, South of Baghdadand Al-Dora which are being gradually returned to work. He pointed out that the percentage of achievement in investment projects in 2007 amounted to 95% in spite of the non-implementation of some contracts because of the delay of allocations which hampered opening credits and the apology of most companies because of the high value of the euro and the devaluation of the dollar. He said that Iraqi Prime Minister instructed the formation of a specialized team to facilitate contracts and issue new instructions from the Ministry of Planning to facilitate contracts with international companies for the implementation of the investment plan of 2008 faster than the one of 2007.
He added, "2008 will be the year of gatherers for the Ministry of Electricity in the projects that are currently implemented, such as the stations of: Samawah with a 90 Mega Watts, South of Baghdad steam station which is of two units each one with 50 Mega Watts, South of Baghdad gas station with a production capacity of 400 Mega Watts, North of Baghdad station with 60 Mega Watts, Al-Quds station with 250 Mega Watts and Al-Musayyib station with a production capacity of 400 Mega Watts.
Waheed said, "Many provinces were isolated from the central system, such as Salahuddin, Kirkuk, the northern region, Baghdad and Diyala because of the collapse of the towers transporting electric current and which can not be repaired because of the security situation." Pointing out that the Ministry of Defense with its current technical and logistical abilities is not be able to protect the electrical system, particularly in the provinces which their security files were handed over.
Waheed called on citizens to cooperate to rationalize consumption and activate the experiment of the ten Am. for each family, and criticized the lack of cooperation of the local government's departments in Babylon with electricity, especially in the provision of fuel.
At the same context, Waheed said in a press conference in Karbala on Saturday, attended by the governor of Karbala, Head of the Municipal Council and governor of Najaf, that "Iraq was internationally ranked within the unsafe areas and this classification made much or all international companies, including major firms, to refrain from working in Iraq."
Waheed also answered a question about the reasons for not building power stations rely on nuclear energy by saying, "reliance on nuclear energy has many problems, adding that many countries in the world, has retreated on the use of this technique for lack of nuclear fuel in addition to other political reasons. Besides, we do not need to build plants of this type and all that we need is the existence of companies with materials and expertise because we have the money and fuel." He pointed out that local companies are implementing some projects but they do not have sufficient expertise to carry them out.
http://www.iraqdirectory.com/DisplayNews.aspx?id=5466
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Shell CEO says decision on Iraq plans will depend on Oil Law
Royal Dutch Shell PLC has plans to invest in war-torn Iraq but any decision to proceed would depend on the policies that will govern the country's vast oil industry, said Jeroen van der Veer, the group's chief executive.
A proposed legislation that will set the ground rules for the Iraqi oil industry is still pending in parliament.
"Yes, we are interested to work in Iraq... but we have to know the rules of the game," Van der Veer told reporters in a conference call.
Shell has been in discussions with the Iraqi government for possible onshore oil and gas projects that will serve both the domestic and export markets, he said, adding the group has submitted proposals to the government.
He declined to detail the proposals and comment on press reports the group may be involved in a 2.5 bln usd natural gas project in the southern part of the country.
Iraq is estimated to have proven reserves of 115 bln barrels, the third largest in the world behind Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Business finance news - currency market news - online UK currency markets - financial news - Interactive Investor
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India's IOC raises term crude imports from Iraq
India's top state-run refiner Indian Oil Corp has raised its term crude imports from Iraq to 11 million tonnes for 2008, from 10 million tonnes last year, a senior company source close to the deal told Reuters.
"Our contract with Iraq runs from January to December and we have recently finalised the deal for 11 million tonnes," the source said.
India's IOC raises term crude imports from Iraq | Industries | Energy | Reuters&
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EU to enhance energy co-op with Iraq
Two European Union commissioners met respectively here on Thursday with Iraqi Minister of Oil Hussain Al-Shahristani to discuss the enhancement of energy cooperation between the 27-nation European bloc and oil-rich Iraq.
"Iraq is a natural energy partner for the EU, both as a producer of oil and gas and as a transit country for hydrocarbon resources from the Middle East and the Gulf to the EU," said Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighborhood Policy Benita Ferrero-Waldner.
She said that energy was a key element for Iraq's economic development, and the EU energy market as the largest integrated market in the world, "offers interesting opportunities for Iraq."
"Therefore we have a mutual interest in exploring the possibility of an EU-Iraq Energy Partnership that could be beneficial for both sides," said the commissioner.
Commissioner for Energy Andris Piebalgs labeled diversificationas EU's one of the main tools to improve security of supply, adding establishing stable frameworks for energy cooperation with potential new suppliers "is therefore a priority for us."
"Both the EU and Iraq have much to gain from strong energy cooperation. As a first step we are keen to see Iraq play a full role in the Arab Gas Pipeline which will supply the EU including through the Nabucco," he said.
The two sides also agreed to work together on the development of interconnections of Iraq's gas infrastructure to the Arab Gas Pipeline.
The commissioners invited Minister Shahristani to participate in a ministerial conference in support of the Arab Gas Pipeline to be held in Brussels in the first half of 2008, a news release from the European Commission said.
EU to enhance energy co-op with Iraq_English_Xinhua
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Dubai to host ‘Iraq Energy 2008’ conference in May
To focus on Iraq’s crude oil marketing, refining and petrochemicals, a conference themed ‘Iraq Energy 2008’ will be organized by CWC Associates in Dubai during 19-20 May this year.
The theme of the conference is focused on the huge incentives to improve the investment climate in Iraq’s downstream sector and across the two days the conference will identify and explore the challenges facing the Iraqi oil industry.
A senior delegation led by Ahmed Al Shamaa, Deputy Oil Minister of Iraq for the Downstream, will address the conference.
Senior Delegation of Iraq Ministry of Oil includes:
- H.E.Ibrahim M. Baher Al Olom, Former Oil Minister of Iraq
- Dathar Al Khashab, Director General of Midland Refineries, Iraq Ministry of Oil
- Mussab Hassan Al Dujayli, Head Of Crude Oil Marketing SOMO, Iraq Ministry of Oil
- Ali Al Obaidi, Director General of Northern Refineries, Iraq Ministry of Oil
- Falah Al Khawaja, Director General for Oil Projects SCOP, Iraq Ministry of Oil
- Laith Al Shaher, Director General of Administration and Legal, Iraq Ministry of Oil
- Abdul Elah Sadik Jaafar, Oil Expert-Technical Office, Iraq Ministry of Oil
Besides the Iraqi delegation, prominent speakers of the gathering will address legal, technical, financial and marketing issues and the law privatizing Iraq’s oil refining sector, the crude oil sector and market demand.
Expert Speakers:
- Alirio Parra, Senior Associate, CWC Associates Limited and Former Ministre of Energy, Venezuela
- Adam J. Robinson, Energy Research Analyst, Lehman Brothers
- Bill Farren-Price, Director Energy and Emerging Markets, Medley Global Advisors, New York
- Dr Herman Franssen, President, International Energy Associates, Inc.
- J.Jay Park, Partner and Chair, International Energy Practice Group MACLEOD DIXON LLP
- Mohammed Azam Ali, Chief Executive Officer, Orient & Gulf DMCC, Dubai
- Neil Atkinson, Business development, KBC
- Dr Pedro Van Meurs, President, VAN MEURS Corporation
- Tariq Shafiq, President, PETROLOG Associates
- Yahia Said, Director for Middle East and North Africa, Revenue Watch Institute
Topics Of Discussion:
- The potential for international investment in Iraq’s refining and petrochemical industry
- The new legislations and the potentials of Iraq’s downstream oil and gas activities
- Marketing of Crude Oil
- The present state of Iraq’s oil refining and the rise of crude oil prices
- Potentials For The Expansion In Iraq’s Refining Industry and the New Structure Of Iraq’s Downstream Oil and Petrochemical Industry
- The need for foreign investment
- The need to create a conducive legal, economic and financial environment to encourage international investment
- Foreign partnership and participation
- The need to liberalize local oil product market
- The need for new pipelines and associated pipelines facilities
- The utilization of gas resources in Iraq
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Iraq's No. 1 problem
Bush may have to withdraw his support for al-Maliki if he continues to slow progress.
Strolling down Airplane Road in the Dora district, it's clear what has happened in Iraq during the last year. A former war zone has become a place where shops and schools are open and housing prices are rising.
The strategy of "surging" 30,000 American soldiers into Iraq and stationing most of them outside of giant U.S. bases has made a crucial difference. Like Gen. Matthew Ridgeway in Korea, Gen. David Petraeus has rescued a failing war effort. He applied the classic counterinsurgency tactic of protecting the population. The people in turn provided information about the terrorists hiding in their midst.
A staggered Al Qaeda is steadily losing one redoubt after another because, in the most important shift in the war, the Sunni people turned against the terrorists and aligned with the American soldiers. Over 80,000 men (mainly Sunnis) have joined neighborhood watch groups that the U.S. calls Concerned Local Citizens. Essential in last year's battles to drive Al Qaeda out of Baghdad, the CLCs also provide Sunnis with a defense against Shiite militias.
Now, victory is within our grasp -- if only the Iraqi government could effectively reach out to Sunnis and Shiites alike who are fed up with violence and sectarian divisions.
Yet the perverse political system stymies such an outcome. In 2004, U.S. and U.N. officials pushed through an electoral process that resulted in votes for parties rather than individual candidates. This left party bosses in Baghdad free to appoint hacks who do not answer to any local constituency and face no penalty for failing to provide essential services. Water, electricity, garbage collection and job creation are in terrible shape, especially in Sunni areas, because the government is run by Shiites.
American battalion commanders have stepped in. Officers trained to attack cities, not run them, have temporarily assumed the duties of city managers, cadging resources and hounding Iraqi officials to disburse hoarded funds.
This situation cannot last indefinitely. American officers cannot take the place of the missing government of Iraq. The CLCs must be incorporated into the police. But the government headed by Nouri Maliki is moving with agonizing slowness, running the risk that civil war may be reignited.
The danger grows because the five surge brigades -- fully one-quarter of American combat power -- are scheduled to return home by August. Coincidentally, thousands of former insurgents will be released from American-run prisons. In Baghdad alone, more than 30 detainees a day are expected to return at a time when there are substantially fewer American soldiers on the streets.
Meanwhile, American and Iraqi units still have to drive Al Qaeda from Mosul and the desert close to the border with Syria, which remains a sanctuary for extremists. Iran also continues to train and fund Shiite extremist gangs. So Petraeus has his hands full. His task will become more difficult if shortsighted officials in Washington push for even more troop reductions later this year.
However, it is the government's ineffectiveness, not the insurgency, that is Iraq's biggest problem. Maliki has antagonized the Kurds, Sunnis and most of the Shiite parties. In no small part, his conduct stems from a perception that President Bush's support is assured. Bush goes out of his way to support the embattled prime minister, whether in news conferences or in their regular video teleconferences.
Believing that the White House cannot effectively pressure him without undermining domestic support for its Iraq policy, Maliki has slighted governance while consolidating sectarian control via a vulpine clique. In a flight from reality, his aides balked over sending a letter to the U.N. requesting that coalition forces remain in Iraq, even though Maliki wouldn't last a day without coalition support.
There are good reasons for the administration to be reluctant to ditch the prime minister when no consensus candidate has emerged to replace him. If the opposition toppled the government and it took months to choose a successor (as happened in 2006 when Maliki replaced Ibrahim Jafari), the fragile security conditions might not withstand the paralysis of an already sclerotic government. But Bush should not repeat in Iraq the mistake he has already made in Russia and Pakistan: overly personalizing relations with another country. The U.S. should support democracy in Iraq, not Maliki per se.
A few weeks ago, the Kurds threatened a "no confidence" vote if the prime minister did not share power. Chastened, Maliki seemed to agree. The tests will be whether he permits Sunnis to join the police force in representative numbers, disburses funds to the provinces and permits legislation for provincial elections certain to weaken his authoritarian efforts to control Iraq. If he doesn't come through, the American president may have no choice but to cast his vote -- probably a decisive one -- against the Iraqi prime minister.
Bing West is a correspondent for the Atlantic Monthly and author of "No True Glory: A Frontline Account of the Battle for Fallujah." Max Boot is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and a contributing editor to Opinion.
Iraq's No. 1 problem | Iraq Updates
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Political Factors are behind opposing Kurdistan Region’s Proportion from Iraqi Budget
The Kurdistan region renders the disagreement of some sides which oppose allocating % 17 of the Iraqi budget to this region to political conflicts not the matter of Kurdistan regions population or other factors.
That opposition to the proportion of Kurdistan region from the Iraqi budget is rendered to chauvinist and nationalistic views since till now some sides could not abandon past beliefs and want Baghdad to be the center of authorities, an official source from KRG told PUKmedia on Friday.
“The Iraqi minister of oil himself has confirmed that the proportion of %17 for the Kurdistan region “is fixed”, so political factors are behind opposing the proportion of Kurdistan region from the Iraqi budget, the source added.
According to economic analysis the current % 17 proportion for Kurdistan region is less than the previous %13 proportion during the Food for Oil Program , since that %13 reached this region completely after deducting common costs, but now after deducting severing and presidential costs from the %17 ratio less than %13 remains for Kurdistan region, the source said as well.
What is happening inside the Iraqi parliament is a political conflict and it will go on, as the conflict has been existed previously, but Kurdistan region will never abandon its proportion from the Iraqi budget, the source concluded.
PUKmedia :: English - Political Factors are behind opposing Kurdistan Region’s Proportion from Iraqi Budget
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Sweden-Iraq flights resumed
Sweden's civil aviation authorities gave the thumbs up to Viking Airlines to operate regular flights from Sweden to the airports of Sulaimaniya and Arbil, northern Iraq, as of Saturday, an official source at Sulaimaniya Airport said on Friday.
"Sweden allowed only one company to operate flights to northern Iraq after a 6-month hiatus," the source, who declined to be named, told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq – (VOI), adding Saturday morning would see the first flight arriving from the Swedish capital Stockholm.
Swedish aviation authorities had stopped all flights to Iraq on August 10, 2007 after the pilots of an MD-83 airplane of Nordic Airways said they had seen flashes when the plane was taking off from Sulaimaniya Airport.
An aviation official in Iraqi Kurdistan region denied reports about attacks targeting the plane while Swedish officials said they did not doubt that the plane was a target for an attack.
Flights from Stockholm are carrying Iraqis residing in Sweden, nearly the only European country that receives most Iraqi refugees.
Aswat Aliraq