Thread: Kurdistan Economy

Iraqi Kurds accept most government conditions for exporting their oil

Iraqi Kurds say they would not mind if royalties of oil exports originating in their region are collected by the central government in Baghdad.

However, they said they would only want the central government to use part of the proceeds to pay the foreign contractors who developed their fields.

The concession may ease tension over sharing of oil royalties and allow Iraqi Kurds to use the national pipeline network for exports.

“The (Kurdish) regional government is prepared to enter in a serious dialogue on this issue. We are thoroughly prepared, and for the interests of the Iraqi people, to resume exports of not less than 100,000 barrels of oil a day,” said Ashti Horami, the Kurdish regional government’s minister of natural resources.

He said the volume will be increased up to 200,000 barrels a day next year.

Central government’s insistence on having total control over all oil revenues in the country had prompted the Kurds to turn off their oil taps.

Horami’s new overtures, analysts say, signal new concessions on the part of the Kurds. In the past they wanted all the money from oil sales originating in their region for themselves.

Horami even asked the oil ministry for the immediate resumption of oil exports from their region, with SOMO, Iraq’s oil export arm collecting all the proceeds.

However, an oil ministry spokesman said issues of oil exports had to be decided by the central government in Baghdad.

http://www.azzaman.com/english/index...01-19\kurd.htm

KRG Premier unveils details of 2010 budget

Kurdish premier unveiled details of the general budget of Kurdistan Region for 2010 that was approved by the presidency of Ministers' Council that makes up to 11 trillion and 433 billion IQDs.

In a press conference Tuesday, Barham Salih, announced that 2010 budget bill is approved and its details are presented for how it would be spent. He related "the late of the bill approval to the delay of Iraqi General Budget and the formation of the 6th KRG cabinet".

Council of Ministries has submitted the bill to Kurdistan Parliament for ratification, Salih said.

He also said that the budget is unified and would be for the entire Kurdistan Region, 7 trillions and 889 billion Iraqi Dinars out of the budget has been allocated for in use plans and 835 billion for budget deficiency.

With regards to Peshmerga budget, Salih said that "the Iraqi Government has to provide the budget", however the issues are not settled yet.

"10 billion IQDs are allocated for men of letter, journalists, artists, and writers out of 2010 budget, 10% of the Ministers' budget and special ranks are cut to go for Martyrs fund, also 90 billion are allocated for parties' and organizations' budget," added Salih.

The premier also announced that "Martyrs' and handicaps' allowances will be increased," and said that the some 120 billion is allocated for sending students abroad for study on the scientific basis."

"Universities would be opened in each of Halabja, Garmiyan, Zakho, and Raniya," Salih said before saying that "the sum 150 billion IQDs are allocated for building new schools."

350 billions goes to housing fund for uprooting housing crisis. It is for the first time housing loan to cover towns, districts, and sub districts. 50 billion for Agricultural Bank and also 30 million more is allocated for industrial bank.

http://www.pukmedia.com/english/inde...omy&Itemid=389

An Oil Boomtown in Iraqi Kurdistan
Erbil is prospering, but tensions with Baghdad are increasing

Erbil, Iraq - Traveling from Baghdad to Erbil, you feel like you're entering a different country, which in a sense you are, since the city is the capital of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region. New homes stretch out onto the dusty prairie, and the main avenues are dug up as workers lay fiber-optic cables. In the bazaars, horse-drawn carts laden with pomegranate seeds and stewed beetroot jostle with men selling m.obile p.hones from motorbikes. "Every time I go, there are two or three buildings that weren't there before," says Andrew Eberhart, whose Marshall Fund, a U.S. private equity firm, runs a tomato-paste plant near Erbil that he visits several times a year. "There's a lot of energy."

As Baghdad steps up oil production, it might look north to this city for pointers on working with foreign investors. The Kurds have been awarding contracts to overseas companies since 2002, a year before Saddam Hussein's ouster. Today, Canada's Addax Petroleum (acquired by China Petrochemical), Norway's DNO International, and Turkey's Genel Enerji International have contracts for the Taq Taq and Tawke fields in Kurdistan. The Kurds say they could produce 200,000 barrels a day by the end of 2010—about 10% of Iraq's current output—up from a maximum of 100,000 barrels daily last year.

The north's stability is strengthening the hand of Kurdish President Massoud Barzani as he bargains with Baghdad over oil resources. In the run-up to national elections in March, the Kurdish region—where nearly 20% of Iraq's 29 million citizens live—isn't shy about parading its autonomy: Police wear Kurdish uniforms. The region's red, white, and green flag is ubiquitous while Iraq's is nowhere to be seen. Kurdish parties will participate in the election, but Barzani isn't a candidate

EXPORTS ON HOLD

The catch is, the Kurds can't sell their oil abroad without help from the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, which controls export pipelines. Since the Kurds started oil exports in June, Baghdad has refused to pay the international companies for their share of the export revenue, saying Barzani's government had no right to sign its own contracts. That's "unfair and unreasonable and illogical," says Falah Mustafa Bakir, the region's de facto foreign minister. In October the Kurds suspended exports, and the region's output has slumped to 20,000 barrels a day.

While locals and foreigners alike praise Kurdistan for building up its infrastructure and welcoming investment, tension between the Kurds and Arab Iraqis remains a concern. Barzani says Kirkuk, the province southeast of Erbil that produces a quarter of Iraq's oil, should be part of Kurdistan. A local referendum on that question has been delayed for two years, and both Barzani and Maliki have built up military forces in the province. "If you clash with your neighbors, it's difficult for investors to believe in the area," says Baz Karim, chief E.xecutive of Kar Group, an Erbil company with $1 billion in energy and building contracts.

Nonetheless, there's a mood of optimism in Erbil. Karim is building a 13-story tower in the city as Kar Group's headquarters and is expanding Kar's oil refinery. The boom marks a dramatic shift from the 1980s, when Hussein's troops killed thousands of Kurds, and the impoverished 1990s when the region was cut off from the rest of the world. "A few years ago there was no money, no electricity, no banks," says Dara Jalil Khayat, head of the Erbil Chamber of Commerce, whose glass-fronted offices stand out against the 6,000-year-old mud-brick Citadel that looms over Erbil's center. "Now we have lots of industry."

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine...5046392264.htm

Kurdistan to pump 1 million bpd within 3 years

Natural Resources Minister in Kurdistan region government Ashti Hawrami said that Kurdistan should be able to pump as much as 1 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil within three years and that in a speech on the on the sidelines of a conference on the Middle East and North Africa at the Chatham House think tank in London. We can start with 100,000 to 150,000 barrels (per day) right away and we can go to 1 million barrels within three years," Hawrami said in an interview.

http://www.alsumaria.tv/en/Economics...n-3-years.html

KRG in talks with oil companies for gas supply

Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government is in talks with three companies to supply natural gas to the Nabucco pipeline, the region's oil minister said Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters, Ashti Awrami said "it is our right" to negotiate the use of gas from the region, adding "the revenue is for Iraq."

Nabucco, which will bypass Russia by carrying gas from the Caspian region to Europe, has faced concerns it may struggle to find the quantities needed to fill the pipeline.

The minister wouldn't disclose the companies involved, but Austria's OMV AG (OMV.VI) and Hungary's MOL Nyrt. (MOL.BU) are both investors in both the KRG and the Nabucco consortium.

The KRG estimates its soil could hold 200 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas reserves.

A final investment decision for the 3,300-kilometer pipeline is due by year end with completion expected in 2015.

http://www.aknews.com/en/aknews/2/110615/

KRG helps people with less interest rate for banks

The Province Bank Chief announced that the decision for sweeping away percent of real estate pre-loans will not include those who had borrowed money before the beginning of 2010, Sulaimaniyah Bank Chief reported on Thursday.

“We have reached to the decision to remove the 2 percent of bank service of the real estate pre-loans, but the portion will only cover those that borrow money at the beginning of the first month of this year,” Ali Mohammad told the Independent National News Agency of Kurdistan (AKnews).

“We had concluded together with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) for discussions on the removing the additional 2 percent of the bank interests of the real-estate loans a few months ago,” Mohammed said.

The city residential civilians can borrow 12 million (m) Iraqis Dinars (ID) as a Real Estate pre- loans, and 9 (m) (ID) for the residential areas around the province boundaries for 20 years.

http://www.aknews.com/en/aknews/2/113469/

Iraqi Kurdistan to publish oil contracts: Minister

Iraqi Kurdistan said on Sunday that the semi-autonomous region planned to publish disputed oil deals it had made with foreign firms, a move that may help end an impasse with Baghdad over who will pay them.

Kurdistan and Baghdad have been at loggerheads for months over oil deals Kurdistan signed independently with foreign firms. The Arab-led government in Baghdad refuses to pay the firms, and oil exports from Kurdistan stopped last year.

One problem is a lack of transparency in the deals, Baghdad lawmakers say, and the contracts' publication on the internet may help defuse the row. The Kurdish authorities have already sent copies of at least two contracts to Baghdad as both sides talk increasingly, ahead of a March 7 election, of an accord.

"The sooner we compile and scan them, they will be out," Kurdish natural resources minister Ashti Hawrami told Reuters in an interview on Sunday, referring to deals with some 38 firms currently working in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Small firms including Norway's DNO, Genel Enerji of Turkey and London-listed Heritage Oil have struck production sharing agreements in the largely autonomous northern Kurdish region. The central government in Baghdad prefers service contracts, for which developers receive a set fee for each barrel of oil produced.

Questions were raised about Kurdistan's agreements with foreign firms last year, when the Oslo bourse revealed details of a murky share deal between DNO and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). The KRG denied any wrongdoing.

Kurds want the central government to pay the oil companies working in Kurdistan, but Baghdad insists the KRG pay from its annual cut of the national budget.

KURD-ARAB THAW?

Tensions between Kurds and the Arab-led government in Baghdad over contracts and larger issues about resources and land are seen as a major threat as Iraq emerges from years of sectarian war since the 2003 U.S. invasion.

Hawrami has in the past used interviews to rail against the Baghdad government, but his latest comments were more diplomatic, perhaps a sign of sensitivity ahead of the March 7 parliamentary vote, after which the Kurds will seek allies.

Baghdad's hand in the dispute has also strengthened, after the Oil Ministry signed a raft of deals last month for oilfields outside Iraqi Kurdistan that may turn Iraq into one of the three top global oil producers.

Kurd-Arab ties seemed to thaw recently, and Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani said last week that he expected oil exports from Kurdistan to resume within days.

Hawrami, however, said the Kurdish regional government had still not received a message from Baghdad about exports, which Kurdish leaders had targeted at 100,000 barrels per day.

"We have not formally, as far as I'm aware, received any written response from the office of the prime minister in Baghdad, but we're expecting that," he said.

When asked whether Kurdish authorities would use their 17 percent share of the budget to pay companies, Hawrami said: "No, absolutely not."
Hawrami estimates there are 45 billion barrels of recoverable reserves in Kurdistan, adding that he expected 11-12 new wells to be dug this year. Iraq's total reserves are estimated at 115 billion barrels -- the world's third largest.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTR...*****Channel=0

French minister asserts keenness to support Kurdistan economically

French Industry Minister Christian Iistrossi said that his country’s government supports Kurdistan region in the economic field.Speaking at a joint press conference with Kurdistan’s Prime Minister Barham Saleh, attended by Aswat al-Iraq news agency, the minister said that the French government is working with French companies to support the region in industry, economic, trade and agriculture fields.

“The French government will open a big agricultural centre in Kurdistan to help and train the workers of the agricultural field,” he added.

http://en.aswataliraq.info/?p=127681

Kurdistan’s budget bill to be approved soon

A media adviser to the speaker of the Kurdish parliament said that he expects the draft budget law to be approved during Sunday’s session.
“A session was held on Sunday to debate the Kurdistan region’s budget.

Another session will take place this afternoon to debate proposals submitted by parliamentarians on the budget bill,” Tareq Johar told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

On Saturday, Johar said that opposition blocs in the Kurdish Parliament could not return the draft budget law to the government after they had failed to gain a majority of votes for their proposal.

Only 34 parliamentarians voted in favor of the proposal, while 66 members voted against, Johar indicated.

Three parliamentary blocs- the Change Bloc, the Islamic Union and the Islamic Group, had announced that they would stand as opposition blocs in the Parliament, refusing to participate in the current Kurdish government.

http://en.aswataliraq.info/?p=127768

Elections in Kurdistan highly competitive

Elections in northern Iraq are as competitive as polls in Baghdad.
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan led by President Jalal Talabani has allied with Kurdistan Democratic Party headed by Kurdistan leader Massoud Barazani in face of Change Movement led by Neshervan Mostapha.

Kurdistan Leader Massoud Barazani cast ballot in Birmam resort, Erbil while Foreign Minister Hosheyar Zebari said after voting that he is optimistic towards elections and stressed that Iraq elections results are crucial for Kurdistan.

Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Barham Saleh cast his vote in Shirine school in Sulaymaniya. Saleh called on citizens to participate in elections which will shape Iraq’s federal and democratic outlook.

http://www.alsumaria.tv/en/Iraq-News...mpetitive.html