Thread: Kurdistan Economy

Gulf Keystone British are looking to partner in an oil project in Kurdistan

Said company Gulf Keystone Petroleum, the British oil exploration, which focuses its operations in Iraq said it intends to acquire a joint project in Kurdistan after found her former partner in a deal that requires the mobilization of a new partner and substantial funding.

The news pushed the stalled funding and the absence of a new partner Gulf Keystone shares to fall 11.7 percent to 82.75 pence per share by at 1028 GMT to be among the biggest losers on the Stock Exchange Ndnaleom.

The company said on Wednesday it was in talks with the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq with regard to payments to support the infrastructure of $ 40 million owed by the Fund Itamik private investment in the Middle East and its partner in the project.

The company said it had conducted negotiations with the Kurdish government in northern Iraq to pay the amounts due on stage for the joint venture to maintain its share in the areas of Sheikh Adi and Bear Sea region. She explained that the Kurdish government has not signed the deal yet and that some conditions may change.'s Government, the Kurdistan objections from the Baghdad government and the Oil Ministry with respect to its agreements with oil companies sidearms. As well as the exposure of partnership has raised suspicions about corruption in the ball and resources in Kurdistan.

http://aljeeran.net/economy/8079.html

Othman: the differences between the Kurds might affect the nomination of Talabani for the presidency

A member of the House of Representatives, Mahmoud Othman said there is no need for the urgency of the Kurds on the nomination of the current Iraqi President Jalal Talabani for a second, if it does not enjoy the right of veto (the veto).

Othman confirmed in a radio interview Friday on the need to unify the Kurdish discourse in Kurdistan before the start of discussions in Baghdad with Iraqi political blocs.

He added that the internal differences may affect, because the mass change does not favor Mam Jalal as president, he said.

He said it is better to agree on a program module and the unity of opinion, because if they went to Baghdad and are different it will affect them much.

http://radionawa.com/ar/NewsDetailN....956&LinkID=158

Iraq's Kurds Lose Political Dominance In Kirkuk

Before the March 7 parliamentary elections in Iraq, there was no question of who dominated politics in mixed-population Kirkuk -- it was the two main political factions in the neighboring Kurdish autonomous region. But as the vote count from Kirkuk city and its surrounding Tamin Province neared its conclusion, it was clear that the political landscape was changing dramatically. The secular Al-Iraqiyah coalition and the Kurdistan Alliance appeared to be in a virtual tie, with the balance between them shifting by only wafer-thin differences as the vote tally rose. If the current balance stood, it would mean that the divided province's Turkoman and Arab populations would have a much louder political voice than before. That, in turn, could complicate Kurdish hopes of one day incorporating oil-rich Kirkuk into their autonomous region.

Turkoman politicians in Kirkuk make no secret of the fact that they competed in the parliamentary contest precisely with that goal in mind.

United Against Kurdish Ambitions

Hicran Kazanci head of the foreign relations department of the Iraqi Turkoman Front, tells RFE/RL's Turkmen Service that Turkoman candidates enlisted in a variety of coalitions for the March 7 race. But he says they all agree on one thing: "Despite the fact the Turkomans went into the election with different coalitions, on major and essential subjects they are united," Kazanci says. "For example, about the future status of Kirkuk, all of them are united in opposition toward annexing Kirkuk into any federation. And they are united in making Turkoman one of Iraq's official languages."

Turkoman and Arab politicians made up the vast bulk of Al-Iraqiyah's candidates in the local race, coming for the first time under a single political umbrella in the divided province. That is in sharp contrast to much of Kirkuk's recent history, where the three main population groups -- Kurdish, Turkoman, and Arab -- have all competed against each other.

In the years immediately following the United States' toppling of Saddam Hussein, both Turkomans and Arabs boycotted attempts to form a provincial government. They expressed anger over what they said were Kurdish efforts to appropriate the province de facto after moving Kurdish peshmerga fighters into the area to support the U.S. invasion. The Turkomans and Arabs only agreed to take part in the running of the province after a power-sharing deal in 2008. Under that deal, the provincial governor is a Kurd while his two deputies are an Arab and a Turkoman. But Kirkuk's provincial parliament is still disputed after Arabs and Turkomans largely stayed away from the first election in 2005, handing the Kurds a majority. The Iraqi government excluded Tamin Province from the January 2009 provincial elections due to fears of sparking sectarian unrest. Given this background, the fact that this month's elections for deputies to the national parliament went peacefully in Tamin Province is a major surprise. To ensure security, the Iraqi police fielded 56 m.obile patrols in Kirkuk city on election day, while Kurdish peshmerga also spread out less obtrusively across the provincial capital.

Simira Balay, a correspondent for RFE/RL's Radio Free Iraq, said the Kurdish coalition was caught unaware by the election results, after it "had expected to dominate the election, but it seems the Kurdish vote split among a number of Kurdish parties, including Goran." She noted that the Kurdish bloc was "neck and neck with the Iraqiyah list, which got most of the Turkoman and Arab vote."

The Kurdish coalition comprises the Kurdistan Democratic Party and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. Goran, a recently created Kurdish opposition party, scored well in recent elections by running on an anticorruption platform.

Resolving Kirkuk Issue

In the aftermath of the elections, Kurdish political leaders -- like their Turkoman counterparts -- are stressing unity in their position over Kirkuk. The Kurds see the city as the natural and historic capital of the Kurdish region in northern Iraq. And they insist upon holding a referendum in the province to determine its future status.

"The issue of Kirkuk is [already] in the Iraqi political arena to be solved in accordance with Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution," says Rizgar Ali, the Kurdish head of Kirkuk's provincial council. Major steps under Article 140 include resolving property disputes created by Hussein's policy of "Arabizing" Kirkuk, the holding of a census and conducting a referendum to decide the province's future status.

To date, progress on all these steps has been painfully slow. Most property disputes remain unresolved and unrest in northern Iraq has prevented a census. The referendum, originally planned for no later than the end of 2007, has slipped accordingly. That limbo is unacceptable to the Kurds, who are sure to use their full representation in the Baghdad parliament, including deputies from the Kurdish region, to continue to press for swift implementation of Article 140. But it is likely that both the Turkomans and Arabs will use their new voice in the federal legislature to try to subject Article 140 to further negotiation.

According to Rakan Said, the Arab deputy governor of Kirkuk, the election results "laid the ground for dialogue." He adds that now there are "two parties to the issue of Kirkuk: one is Al-Iraqiyah and the other is the Kurdish coalition. So the platform [for dialogue] has become clear and without interference."

New Political Landscape

Al-Iraqiyah, headed by former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, ran on a nonsectarian, nationalist platform. Its success on the national level as a joint front-runner with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's State of Law coalition has appeared to realign Iraqi politics by relegating sectarian- and ethnic-based parties to the background. As the vote count neared its end and with challenges to a final tally continuing, the Shi'ite religious parties' Iraqi National Alliance were in third place and the Kurdistan Alliance in fourth. Still, Iraqi parliamentary politics is all about making coalitions and in the past the Kurds have proved adept at playing the role of kingmakers.

Whether the Kurdish parties can continue to do so now, or are relegated to a less prominent role, will directly affect Kirkuk's eventual status. The Kurds want it to be part of Iraqi Kurdistan. And the newly empowered Kirkuk Turkoman-Arab bloc is just as determined to play the spoiler. Kurds, Arabs, and Turkomans all claim the province around Kirkuk based on a long historical presence in the area. The Turkic-speaking Turkomans, who claim to be the second-largest group in northern Iraq after the Kurds, trace their presence to the time of the Seljuk Empire, when migrating Turkic tribes conquered a vast expanse of territory stretching from modern Iran to Turkey.

Muhammad Tahir of RFE/RL's Turkmen Service contributed to this report

http://www.rferl.org/content/Iraqs_K...dInfoContainer

Kurdish groups will meet the winner of next week to discuss the post-election phase and agree on Talabani as president

Leader said in the Kurdistan Islamic Union, on Wednesday, Kurdish blocs that won parliamentary elections in Iraq and agreed to meet early next week to discuss the post-election, and agreed in principle to be Jalal Talabani, a candidate for the Presidency, among the leadership change in the list, the list will participate in this meeting was jointly conditioned to put up some points that it considers a priority.

A member of the Political Bureau of the Kurdistan Islamic Union Babiker Salah al-Din said in an interview for "Alsumaria News", "All blocks had expressed willingness to participate in the meeting convened by the president for the region, in order to develop a working paper for the joint Kurdish phase after the elections," said afterthought " But some people made some conditions to be discussed during the meeting before going into any discussions to unify the Kurdish vision."

The Presidency of the Kurdistan Regional Government called for a meeting between the four blocks of winning the election in order to unify the visions of all those blocks on the road to unite the Kurdish participation in any such discussions with other lists in Baghdad.

The Babiker that "the groups had agreed in principle that Jalal Talabani, Kurdistan is the only candidate for the post of President of the Republic," adding that "the meeting was to agree on a date early next week."

"The expectations of new specific" Alsumaria News ", was based on the overall results for the Iraqi elections, according to the proportion of 95% of the counted ballots public, private and overseas, as announced by the Electoral Commission, the rule of law, a coalition headed by Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's Iraqi List, headed by Iyad Allawi, three seats, as Maliki won 92 seats, while Allawi within 89 seats with the possibility of obtaining a seat on an expected additional seats in the Kurdistan Alliance in Kirkuk after the end of counting and sorting.

The Iraqi National Coalition third with 64 seats, while solving the Kurdistan Alliance was ranked fourth with 42 seats, and then change in fifth place with eight seats, and came with the Accordance Front, the Islamic Union in sixth place with 6 seats and the Islamic Union VII 4 seats, Coalition the unity of Iraq VIII 3 seats, the Kurdistan Islamic Group ninth seats.

For his part, leading to a change in the list "list will participate in this meeting in order to reach a final formula by which the agreement between the four blocs", stating that "participation would be conditional on offering some of the points it considers its list of priorities."

Osman said Dashti said in an interview for "Alsumaria News", the "lift the injustice from the list, and get rid of the existing state of tension is the most prominent of those priorities that we demand," according to him, and called on "everyone to think twice before holding this meeting until the final results of elections so that know all the true size of the blocks during those results."

It is hoped to announce the Office of the elections in Iraq on the final results of parliamentary elections which took place on March 7 during a conference last Friday.

http://www.alsumarianews.com/ar/1/45...7;ا.html

Kurdistan ready to export 100,000 bpd of oil – Kurd Minister

The Iraqi Kurdistan region can export oil at a rate of 100 thousand barrels per day (bpd), the regional natural resources minister said on Wednesday.

“Oil exportation from Kurdistan will start as soon as a new Iraqi government is formed,” Minister Ashti Horami told Aswat al-Iraq news agency on Wednesday.

He said that Kurdistan’s oil will be exported through Turkey.

“Level of oil exports from Kurdistan may increase to reach 500 thousand bpd by the end of this year,” Horami said.

http://en.aswataliraq.info/?p=129101

Iraqi Kurds plan to double oil export capacity

The autonomous northern Iraq is drilling wells to more than double oil export capacity this year and plans a $1 billion pipeline to send the crude to global markets, Natural Resource Minister Ashti Hawrami said on Wednesday.

The province aims to be able to export between 200,000 and 250,000 barrels of crude a day by the end of 2010, Hawrami told reporters at a conference in London. It will put out a tender soon for the construction of a pipeline capable of sending 1 million barrels of crude a day to Iraq’s northern export pipeline by 2014, Hawrami said.

Exports remain halted for the time being because of a dispute with the national government on how to pay companies, such as Norway’s DNO International, that operate in the region. The Kurdish Regional Government has not received a response on a payment proposal it made in February, Hawrami said.

“Right now about eight, 10 rigs are drilling new prospects and we expect a significant percentage of them to be successful,” Hawrami said at the conference, organized by the London-based Centre for Global Energy Studies. “Ultimately we need a major pipeline that combines all the fields together to the final export point.”

The cost of the new pipeline, which would connect to the existing Kirkuk to Ceyhan link, will be shouldered by existing operators in the region rather than the regional government, Hawrami said.

Dispute with Baghdad:

In late May exports began from DNO’s Tawke oilfield in the region, followed by crude from the Taq Taq deposit. Flows were suspended in October as authorities in Baghdad said that contracts signed between the KRG and foreign companies were illegal.

The region will be able to supply about 100,000 barrels of oil day to Iraq’s northern export pipeline to Turkey as soon as an agreement on payment is reached, Hawrami said. Iraqi Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani said on March 17 that he expects exports to resume in a month.

A deal will likely follow the formation of a new national government, Hawrami said. Iraq held parliamentary elections on March 7, and the leading factions are working on forming an alliance to lead the country.

Northern Iraq has between 20 billion and 25 billion barrels of “oil-in-place,” and proven reserves will likely peak at around 40 billion to 45 billion, according to Hawrami. Iraq’s proven reserves may range between 115 billion and 215 billion barrels, according to the U.S. Energy Department.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.p...ity-2010-03-25

Kurdistan's parliament ends controversial 2010 budget amid opposition to authenticate 33 deputies from the opposition

ending the Kurdish parliament, on Tuesday, the debate on the draft budget of the Kurdistan Region for the year 2010 after endorsement by two-thirds majority, amid objections from opposition forces, which voted against the budget by 33 votes (a difference of only three votes than the number required to prevent authentication), thereby ending the controversy on the budget, which took nearly 12 meetings.

The Information Advisor to the President of the Kurdistan parliament, told (Voices of Iraq) after the confirmation hearing, said that the parliament "approved a law after a debate lasting for more than 12 meetings, which voted 72 members in favor of the project against 33 members voted against the project," noting that the budget that ratified Today "will be sent within three days to the President of the Territory for ratification, to be the direct implementation of the budget law after publication in the Journal Proceedings of Kurdistan."

The head of the Kurdistan Regional Government, Barham Saleh announced (19/1/2010) for his approval to a bill the province's budget for 2010 amounting to 11 trillion and 433 billion Iraqi dinars (9.7 billion dollars).

The essence of Tariq "There are a number of recommendations that have been agreed between the Members of Parliament will be included as a supplement to the law, and most important of these recommendations need to ask Parliament to consolidate institutions that did not unite so far, including the Office of Financial Supervision."

The essence of the parliament of Kurdistan, "called on the Government the Territory should be given priority to areas affected by the policies of displacement and destruction in Kurdistan."

From its part, the opposition voted against the draft budget, a press conference after the confirmation hearing, directly, mentioning the President of the mass change Kohistan, Mohammed said "the three blocs opposition in the parliament of Kurdistan, I tried all seriousness ratification of the draft budget law and reforms which, it seems that reforms are carried out, but remained some fundamental shortcomings that led us not to Altusit it."

And consists of a strong opposition in the parliament of Kurdistan from the MDC (Curran), which holds 25 seats from among the Kurdish parliament, as well as the Islamic Union of Kurdistan (6 seats), and the Islamic Group of Kurdistan (4 seats), a total of 35 seats and needs only two more seats for the acquisition of one-third in the formation parliamentary (37 seats of the total seats in the Parliament of Kurdistan, the amount of 111 seats).

The Kohistan, "One of the reasons for our opposition is not convinced imports internal contained in the draft budget, because it is far too small to rise to the level mentioned after the territory was in previous years to live on these imports," "Ultimately, there is another point essential to integrate the budget with the budget parties and that this budget after ratification gave legitimacy to the two departments in the region because the brave men of the budget and financial control and other institutions came in the form of budgets."

The Kohistan, that the "survival of the budget information the parties, as well as cadres giving way to go up the bulk of the budget into the pockets of the two major parties in Kurdistan, the Patriotic Union and the Kurdistan Democratic Party, to continue to indirectly take the sums that they take it past the government's budget."

"In the draft budget there is no amount of clear and institutions dedicated to the environment, human rights and the disputed areas, as well as the Women's Council."

According to the Kohistan, that "there are proposals from the blocks opposition of the three to make some of the paragraphs in the draft budget materials independently, such as Law No. 4 of 2006 of the Iraqi Council of Representatives for political prisoners and adjust the salaries of Asayish, the police and the Interior and allowances and a further gains related to slices the people of Kurdistan", pointing out that the "The presidency of the parliament did not show those proposals to the vote set the justification and excuse weak."

For his part, President of the block the Kurdistan Islamic Union in Kurdistan parliament Omar Abdel-Aziz reasons not to vote in favor of the budget, saying that "there are approximately 830 billion dinars allocated from the imports of some specific areas, without clarifying sources," noting that "the question we posed several times to the ministers involved, but the responded that the responses are not clear is why we decided today not to take responsibility for approving a budget like this."

In a related development, said President of the mass Islamic Group in Kurdistan parliament Aram capable of that "non-vote on the budget came out of building transparency in the finances of Kurdistan, as well as in terms of defending low-income and working to promote the strengthening of the economy of Kurdistan," pointing out that "part of the imports of the region are loans from banks are so far unknown, and there are benefits would have to take advantage of the citizen without any such thing, but the greatest benefit going to the group of companies and business leaders in Kurdistan."

He is able, "as we called for the abolition of the salary given to thousands of citizens in the political institutions on behalf of the full-time party, but unfortunately has not been abolished."

http://ar.aswataliraq.info/?p=216437

Norwegian DNO demonstrate a willingness to export 50 thousand barrels of oil in the region

Norwegian company DNO has shown working in the oil province of Kurdistan is ready to export 50 thousand barrels of oil through the pipeline Iraq - Turkey, after drilling 14 wells for oil.

The Director-General Tariq Chalabi, in a press statement that the company "can control all products of oil wells within the sector and prepare them for export."

He said Chalabi that "despite the fact that the salaries of workers and technical personnel rests with the company but the company knows that when it was exported oil will get the money because oil is a substance having a high value," noting that "the company signed contracts for 25 years."

http://www.radiodijla.com/cgi-bin/ne...?id=2010-04-14

Barzani approves Kurdistan region’s 2010 budget

President of Kurdistan region Massoud Barzani ratified on Wednesday the 2010 budget and sent it back to the parliament, a media advisor of the parliament’s speaker said.

“The draft law will be sent to the parliament and the government to be implemented,” Tareq Jouhar told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

Prime Minister Barham Saleh had announced on January 19, 2010 that his government approved the 2010 general budget draft law which reached 11.433 trillion Iraqi dinars ($9.7 billion).

http://en.aswataliraq.info/?p=130562

The slanted linguistics of Iraqi politics

It seems that all the political blocs that competed in the latest elections share the same political platform. At least that is what one can sense from their political and media discourse.

The statement above might appear unsound but it is correct in the context of the current Iraqi status quo since it has a bearing on the reality of the situation.

All the political blocs use the same ‘soft’ language which talks ‘about a new Iraq, the safeguarding of the country’s democratic process, a national program void of sectarianism and ethnicity.’

Some see in this kind of language a sign of health and strength for the country’s future.

But the fear is that such a generalization in discourse is what frightens many Iraqis and threatens their future.

The discourse is so comprehensive and all-encompassing that it can help its adopters to easily turn their platform into dictatorship.

Clarity and diversity in discourse and programs is important. The Iraqi situation is in need of a diversity of solutions to address the multifarious problems it faces.

There is talk in political circles of even further unification of political discourse. The purpose seems to be a tactical means to cross the current worrying period in order to gain a firm foot in government.

The joint discourse aside, we do not claim that there are no shared principles among the various political blocs. But it is wrong to say that they are united ideologically. And here lies the danger.

A quick look at what is happening in Iraq shows that conditions are aggravating to the extent that the different blocs are afraid to stand alone, so they need to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with rivals.

Everyone in Iraq thinks now that the worst is yet to come. Some say they can already sense the extent of the calamity lying ahead.

http://www.azzaman.com/english/index...04-21\kurd.htm