Iraq News Highlights and Points To Ponder Tuesday AM 9-17-24

Our Country's Dream"... Al-Sudani Sends An "Important" Message To Gulf States Regarding The Path To Development

Money and business   Economy News – Baghdad  Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani stressed that the drop in oil prices to less than $72 confirms the need to diversify the Iraqi economy, while he addressed a message to the Gulf countries regarding the path to development.

Al-Sudani said during a televised interview followed by "Al-Eqtisad News", "The federal administration's budget allows it to pay $8 for every barrel of oil produced, while contracts signed with the Kurdistan Regional Government give companies $26. This stagnation has affected production from the region and led to a delay in the resumption of the pipeline."

Baghdad has been unable to agree on how much to pay international oil companies operating in the north of the country for their production.

We have to look at how we balance these issues. Do we look at the budget to see what we can do or do we try to look at prices?" he added.

“Closing the pipeline, which can carry nearly half a million barrels per day of oil from Kurdistan to the Turkish coast, would cost billions of dollars in lost revenue. However, restarting it would pose a dilemma for Iraq, which has failed to comply with OPEC+ production limits amid dire financial needs but has repeatedly said it will compensate for overproduction,” he said.

Al-Sudani said, "We are committed to abiding by OPEC decisions and maintaining the oil price in a way that achieves a balance between the interests of users and producers."

Pipeline problems

Turkey halted the pipeline in March last year after an arbitration court ordered it to pay Iraq $1.5 billion in compensation for transporting oil through it without Baghdad’s consent. Ankara, which claimed the pipeline was shut for repairs after two massive earthquakes in February, said in October it was ready for operations and that it was up to Iraq to resume flows.

But financial and legal issues have emerged, such as compensating companies for costs. International companies have said they also want to settle their overdue receivables — including $1 billion for oil produced between September 2022 and March 2023.

With exports halted, companies have begun producing some crude and selling it domestically. Iraqi officials have previously said this production has caused problems with compliance with quotas set by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Iraq’s production cap is 4 million barrels a day, but it produced 4.32 million barrels a day last month, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The country, along with some other OPEC+ members, will gradually lift those limits starting in December.

Al-Sudani is keen to “increase production in the long term after years of war and internal conflict that have affected Iraq’s oil industry. In August, BP signed a preliminary agreement to help boost production from the Kirkuk region. Iraq is also rehabilitating and modernizing damaged refineries to help reduce fuel imports.”

The Prime Minister continued, "Because of the wars and the blockade over the past four decades, Iraq has been late in exploiting the wealth we have of gas and oil properly. Now we are looking at how to exploit the new wealth we have and how to use it effectively."

Diversify the economy

But he said, "The drop in oil prices in London to around $72 a barrel - near their lowest levels since 2021 - underscores the need to diversify the economy."

Iraq is OPEC's largest oil producer after Saudi Arabia and derives the bulk of its revenues from exporting the commodity, and needs much higher prices to balance its budget.

The IMF has long said the country needs to develop its private sector, and that economic progress is being hampered by a huge public sector wage bill, with successive governments not doing enough to curb high wage increases.

Al-Sudani pointed out that "his administration is looking to invest about 40% of Iraq's oil revenues to boost the non-oil sector," adding that "the planned trade corridor extending from Basra Governorate in southern Iraq to Turkey and then to Europe was a 'dream' for his country, and he is looking to the Gulf states to help finance the project, which is supposed to cost $17 billion."

132 views  09/17/2024 - https://economy-news.net/content.php?id=47686

What Is The Truth Of The Bargain Of Passing The Amnesty In Exchange For Personal Status?

Policy   Information/Baghdad..   The head of the parliamentary family committee, Dina Al-Shammari, denied today, Monday, that the amnesty law would be passed in exchange for the personal status law in one basket.

Al-Shammari told Al-Maalouma Agency, "The proposal to amend the Personal Status Law has been on the Council's agenda since the last session."

She added that "the agendas of the House of Representatives are determined according to personal interests and political desires," noting that "the pardon is not linked to the Personal Status Law at all."

Al-Shammari pointed out that "the agendas are presented according to the principle of political agreement, and therefore the general amnesty law was included with the personal status amendment law and passed in one basket." LINK

 Violations And Waste Of Public Money.. Voices Calling For The Need To Expose Port Corruption Are Rising

Information/Baghdad... Voices calling for exposing corruption in Iraqi ports, taking legal action, holding negligent parties accountable and referring them to the judiciary to receive their just punishment have become louder.

Fingers have been pointed at the federal government for its negligence and failure to take action against some corrupt parties, especially since some representatives have revealed the waste of money, major corruption and manipulation in the ports, in addition to the fact that some violations have significant human damage.

Independent MP Yasser Al-Hussaini accused the federal government of ignoring the corruption file of the General Company for Ports of Iraq, saying in his interview with /Al-Maalouma/, "The most dangerous corruption file in the Iraqi government is the file of the General Company for Ports of Iraq, where there is a waste of money and a lack of engagement with the voices calling for stopping this corruption."

He added, "The government has ignored the ports corruption file, although the ministerial program stipulates combating corruption, as there are corruption files that will not be investigated even with the end of the current government's term, especially in the General Ports Company."

Al-Hussaini called on the government to "pay attention to the voices calling for withdrawing the current management of the aforementioned company and opening a fair judicial investigation to look into the number of identified violations."

The head of the Parliamentary Security and Defense Committee, Karim Aliwi Al-Muhammadawi, revealed to Al-Maalouma that there are suspicions of corruption in the manipulation of car models and customs clearance at ports and border crossings.

He added, "There is a lack of oversight operations and a lack of coordination between the security and oversight agencies within the Iraqi ports and border crossings, as the "competent oversight agencies are required to play their role in reducing suspicions of corruption and preserving public money."

On the other hand, MP Alaa Al-Haidari, a member of the Iraqi Ports Corruption Investigation Committee, said: “We were surprised to find a shipment of about 20,000 tons of yellow corn that was rotten and spoiled inside a ship coming from Australia.

 There were approvals from some government agencies to unload this shipment, so we were surprised to find that about 6,000 tons of yellow corn were unloaded into the warehouses of a Turkish factory used to receive cooking oil in the port of Umm Qasr.”

He added: “We found that the contract included that the yellow corn coming from Australia was used for oil, and after it was spoiled, its quality was changed to animal feed because it was exposed to mold. After reviewing this material, it became clear that it was not suitable for animal feed or for cooking oil.

The opinion of the Parliamentary Order 160 Committee for Investigating Port Corruption was to reserve and inform the Director of the Southern Ports and the Customs Administration not to empty the remaining shipment into these warehouses.

However, the information received indicates that approximately 14,000 tons of this spoiled shipment were emptied into these warehouses,” stressing that “every party that gave approval to empty this shipment will bear responsibility for the negligence, and an investigation will be opened into this dangerous file.”   

In a related context, Basra Governor Advisor Mohammed Al-Zaidawi stated that “the Iraqi Ports Company has not risen to the required level and there has been a demand to replace those in charge of its management,” saying: “It is a farce that Iraq has been exposed to corrupt agreements and the waste of $120 million in the file of the breakwater at the Grand Faw Port.

Those who took over the Faw Port file must comply and be held accountable to the judiciary, especially since some of the stalled contracts and projects have suspicions of corruption, but (no one listens).”   LINK