Iraqi News Highlights and Points to Ponder Thursday AM 11-23-23

3 Countries Behind The Postponement Of The “OPEC+” Meeting.. Sources Of Leakage Of The List Of Countries

Time: 11/23/2023 Read: 871 times  {Economic: Al-Furat News} Informed sources reported that the postponement of the OPEC+ meeting on the production strategy came after a disagreement over the current production levels of some member countries, and the possible cuts associated with them.

According to what the media reported, the meeting was postponed from November 26, 2023, to the 30th, and that the postponement was linked to African countries.

OPEC+ announced after its last meeting last June that the production quotas of Angola, Nigeria and Congo for 2024 are conditional on reviews from external analysts.

For his part, UBS analyst Giovanni Stonovo said: “Uncertainty is not good at all for the markets, as the markets must now wait longer to obtain clarity about what OPEC+ will do next year.”

The analyst added, "Postponing the meeting also shows that there are some different viewpoints among the group's participants."

Yesterday, during afternoon trading, black gold prices fell by about 4%, but contracts reduced their losses in the evening, and Brent closed trading with a decline of 0.6% at $82.65 per barrel, while American crude fell by 0.85% to $77.10 per barrel.  LINK

Al-Mandalawi To The Turkish Minister Of Energy: We Are Keen To Find Solutions To Resume Oil Exports

Baghdad today – Baghdad  Today, Wednesday (November 22, 2023), First Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mohsen Al-Mandalawi, confirmed to the Turkish Minister of Energy (Alp Arslan Bayraktar) the keenness to find solutions to resume oil exports through the port of Ceyhan.

A statement from the Office of the First Deputy Prime Minister received by “Baghdad Today” stated that Al-Mandalawi received Bayraktar and his accompanying delegation, in the presence of the Turkish Ambassador to Iraq, Ali Reza Kony, and they discussed “the bilateral relations that bind the two neighboring countries, and the prospects for developing them in all fields, especially on the energy level, and discussing opportunities.” The promising investment offered by Iraq in this aspect, in addition to exchanging views on the oil file and the problems of exporting it.”

He stressed that "there are serious efforts by the legislative and executive authorities to find appropriate solutions to the outstanding issues in a way that does not conflict with the Constitution and takes into account the interests of Iraq and its people."

The statement pointed out that "the water issue was discussed, and Al-Mandalawi stated that this issue is a priority for Iraq and cooperation between the two countries must be undertaken in addressing it, given that this issue has economic and humanitarian repercussions."

Al-Mandalawi stressed "the need for Iraq to obtain its fair share of adequate water releases," stressing "the importance of the Development Road Project in supporting the wheel of economic development, and the attractive investment environment it will provide that will reflect on the security and stability of the region and the well-being of its people."   LINK

Sudanese To The Turkish Minister Of Energy: We Are Ready To Find A Solution To Resume Oil Exports

Baghdad Today – Baghdad  Today, Wednesday (November 22, 2023), Prime Minister Muhammad Shia al-Sudani confirmed during his meeting with the Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Alp Arslan Bayraktar, and his accompanying delegation, the government’s readiness to find a solution to resume the export of Kurdistan region’s oil through the Turkish port of Ceyhan.

A statement from the Prime Minister’s Office received by “Baghdad Today” stated, “The meeting discussed cooperation relations between Iraq and Turkey in the field of energy and ways to develop it, as well as discussing the efforts of the two countries to resume the work of the meetings of the Joint Economic Committee at its 19th session, and to continue work on the issue of exporting Iraqi oil through the Turkish port of Ceyhan.” ".

During the meeting, the Prime Minister explained, "The government's readiness to find a solution to resume oil exports," stressing that "Iraq has adopted fair solutions, within the limits of the Constitution, in dealing with various issues of neighboring countries."

Al-Sudani referred to "the water file, Iraq's water share, and the trend toward optimal use of water, especially in the field of agriculture," stressing, "Iraq looks forward to more Turkish cooperation in this file, which receives great attention from the government, because of its economic and humanitarian impacts."

He also referred to "the important strategic project that both countries are working on, which is the path of development, and the steady growth it will achieve in various joint economic sectors."

The meeting also discussed, according to the statement, "the position of the two countries regarding the current events in Gaza, and the conformity of visions regarding the Palestinian issue. In this regard, the Prime Minister appreciated Turkey's clear position on the condemned attacks on the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip."

For his part, the Turkish Minister conveyed to the Prime Minister the greetings of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his country’s desire for more cooperation in various fields. He pointed to the Turkish President’s clear and detailed interest in the development road project, stressing that Iraq is an important country not only for Turkey, but also For European countries, especially in the field of energy and the promising investment opportunities it has in the global gas market.”

It was likely that an agreement would be reached last week between Baghdad, the Kurdistan Regional Government and foreign oil companies to resume production from oil fields in the region following the visit of Oil Minister Hayan Abdul Ghani a week ago to Erbil.

Turkey stopped flows amounting to 450,000 barrels per day through the export route in the Iraqi Kurdistan region leading to the port of Ceyhan, on March 25, 2023, two days after a ruling issued by the International Chamber of Commerce.

The International Chamber of Commerce ordered Ankara to pay compensation to Baghdad amounting to about $1.5 billion for unauthorized exports by the Kurdistan Regional Government between 2014 and 2018.

Baghdad submitted a request for arbitration in 2014 before the International Chamber of Commerce, based in Paris, regarding Turkey’s role in facilitating oil exports from Kurdistan without the approval of the federal government.

 Last March, the International Chamber of Commerce ruled in favor of Iraq that it has the right to control loading at the port of Ceyhan and see what is being loaded.

Iraq announced last May that the halt, in March, coincided with Turkey's request to inspect the pipeline and storage tanks to monitor any damage resulting from the devastating earthquake that occurred on February 6.

The two countries agreed to wait until the pipeline maintenance assessment is completed to resume flows while continuing the legal battle over arbitration awards.  LINK

Parliamentary Economy Explains The Mechanism For Regulating Trade And Import Operations In Iraq And The Possibility Of Achieving Them

Economy |Baghdad today – Baghdad  Today, Thursday (November 23, 2023), the Parliamentary Economy and Trade Committee clarified the possibility of Iraq succeeding in organizing trade and import operations for some materials and goods through the external financial transfers platform.

Committee member Ali Al-Maksusi told Baghdad Al-Youm, “There is a difficulty in the issue of Iraq’s success in controlling and organizing trade and import operations for some materials such as gold, cars, and mobile phones through the external financial transfer platform, especially with the presence of smuggling operations, tax evasion, and others.”

He added, "Iraq has not yet succeeded in controlling the payment of foreign imports in dollars through the platform. There are still illegal transfers taking place outside the platform," indicating that "this is the reason for an increase in the dollar exchange rate in the parallel market."

Al-Maksousi pointed out that "the matter requires a long time and many technical and legal procedures."

A government source reported on Monday (November 20, 2023) that directives had been issued to adopt trade in gold, cars, mobile phones, and cigarettes within the dollar selling platform soon.

The source explained to “Baghdad Today” that, “Based on the Prime Minister’s directives regarding regulating trade and import operations for some materials and goods, most of which are financed from the parallel market and the negative effects it has on the stability of exchange rates, the Ministerial Council for the Economy will consider proposing important decisions to facilitate and simplify entry procedures.” Importers of goods “gold, cars, mobile phones and cigarettes” to the external money transfer platform.

He added, "These decisions and instructions will be the catalyst for importers of these goods to abandon the process of purchasing and transferring dollars through the parallel market for the dollar and direct them towards the platform for the foreign currency selling window in the Central Bank of Iraq at the official price."

The source confirmed, "This will reflect positively and significantly on reducing the dollar prices in the parallel market, as trade in the above materials contributes the largest proportion of the demand for the dollar in that market."

The Governor of the Central Bank, Ali Al-Alaq, spoke earlier about the reasons for establishing the electronic platform for selling foreign currency, saying: One of the goals of the Central Bank of Iraq that it seeks to achieve is to integrate the banking sector into the global financial markets, because of its importance in developing its work,

and accordingly, it has The bank created an electronic platform to automate subscription mechanisms in the foreign currency selling window to achieve a number of goals, most notably simplifying subscription procedures for financing foreign trade and transparency in procedures,

in addition to providing more opportunities to expand banking activities with foreign correspondent banks and raising the level of compliance with the requirements of the transfer process, as well as attracting a larger segment. of commercial operations available in the market and improving the efficiency of operations related to implementing the sale of foreign currency.  LINK

Provoking Points To Ponder From Seedtime Quotes That Will Change How You Look At Money

“A Budget is telling your money where to go instead of wondering where it all went!” 

“Debt is the Slavery of the Free!”

 “Just because you can afford it, doesn’t mean you should buy it!” 

“Beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship!”

“You must gain control over your money, or the lack of it will forever control  you!”

 “You might get 85 years on this planet, don’t spend 65 years paying off a lifestyle you can’t afford!”

“Never spend your money before you have it!”