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By John Lee.

Commenting in Oilprice.com on the newly-announced, $18-billion pipeline from Iraq to Jordan, John C.K. Daly says that while it is easy to understand the appeal of such a project in energy-starved Jordan, the geopolitical issues remain significant and seemingly unresolved.

The 1,043 mile-long dual pipeline would be capable of transporting one million barrels of oil and 258 million cubic feet of gas per day from Iraq to Jordan's Aqaba port (pictured) on the Red Sea. Iraqi officials say the pipeline, which includes extending a sub-line to Jordan’s sole refinery in Zarqa, will be operational by the end of 2017.

Daly says that this would be the world’s most expensive pipeline project, but poses the question: Why does Baghdad simply not upgrade its oil infrastructure facilities leading to Basra and its offshore oil export platforms there?

Rather than taking the shortest route between Basra and Aqaba, which would cross Saudi Arabia, the pipelines are planned to snake through the "central heart of the Sunni insurgency and western Iraq, where al Qaeda remnants supporting the Syrian rebels are active, resulting in a huge horseshoe shape, before finally descending into Aqaba".

(Source: Oilprice.com)

By John Lee.

Indonesia has signed a deal with Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) to buy Basra light crude in the second half of 2013.

According to reports from Reuters and Jakarta Globe, Iraq is winning more customers in Asia as it is selling its crude cheaper than comparable grades, undercutting rival Saudi Arabia to grab a bigger slice of the Asian market.

Petral, the trading unit of state-run energy firm Pertamina, will lift 1 million barrels of the medium, high sulphur crude each month between June and December.

(Sources: Reuters, Jakarta Globe)

By John Lee.

Iraq plans to spend $130 billion on the country’s upstream sector over the next five years, according to a report from Bloomberg.

Speaking at a conference in Basra, Oil Minister Abdel-Kareem al-Luaibi [Elaibi] (pictured) said the expenditure will be necessary to help raise production capacity to 9 million barrels a day (bpd).

$18 billion will be allocated to raise natural gas output, with another $25 billion to expand refinery capacity; Iraq forecasts $600 billion in revenue from the oil expansion.

Production increased 24 percent last year, with Iraq overtaking Iran to become OPEC's biggest producer after Saudi Arabia.

(Source: Bloomberg)

By Omar al-Shaher for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News.

The controversial Iraqi Sunni politician Ahmed al-Alwani, who is president of the Economic Commission in the Iraqi parliament, ridiculed the notion that if Anbar province gains autonomy, its economy will be weak because the province lacks essential economic resources. He said that large Iraqi provinces can attract a lot of investment.

Alwani proudly claims to be “the godfather of the Anbar [autonomy] project.” He said that “whoever says that Anbar wishes to become an [autonomous] province in order for it to throw itself into the arms of neighboring Sunni Arab states is getting his information from [the wrong sources].”

Alwani is considered to be at the forefront of the Anbar protest movement that started more than two months ago and spread throughout Sunni-dominated areas in Iraq to oppose Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s policies. The protests turned into an open-ended sit-in on the international highway that passes through Anbar and connects Iraq to both Syria and Jordan.

Alwani gained fame when he was reported to have accused Iraqi Shiites of being subservient to Iran and working to serve its interests in Iraq, but he has denied saying that.

Anbar is majority Sunni and the largest of Iraq’s provinces, covering a third of the country. It borders Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia and has one of the largest untapped gas fields in Iraq, the Okaz field.

Alwani said that “establishing a province does not mean secession. According to the constitution, [Anbar] should receive a portion of the state budget to manage its affairs, as happens with the Kurdistan region.” He added that “the Iraqi constitution provides for the formation of [autonomous] regions, but it also provides for the existence of federal ministries, such as finance, defense and foreign affairs. This is to ensure the success of the [autonomous] regions project.”

SRSG Martin Kobler delivered the following addresss to the Twenty-seventh session of the Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum, in Nairobi, Kenya:

I feel honoured to be here with you today at this important event.

We came here to Nairobi from many different countries to discuss how we can make a difference.

We care about the environment.

But let me say a few words about who we are.

UNAMI is a political mission.

It is mandated to advise and assist the Government and people of Iraq to advance on political dialogue and national reconciliation. UNAMI has a regional mandate to facilitate dialogue between Iraq and its neighbours. We promote the protection of human rights and judicial and legal reform.

I am also responsible for coordinating the work of the 17 UN agencies present in Iraq.

What is most important for me is that we work for the people of Iraq. We are in Iraq, to make a difference.

But how can we think about progress, prosperity and sustainable development in Iraq, if we ignore the environment?

Environmental protection is highly political- and it has to be on top of our agendas.

If we fail to recognize this, we will fail in our mission, we will fail the people of Iraq- and the entire region.

We all know that Iraq is still struggling with a difficult legacy.

Three terrible wars, decades of sanctions and years of brutal dictatorship have destroyed much of Iraq’s social fabric and economy. Iraq was left environmentally degraded.

However, Iraq is also an immensely rich country.

Oman-based Galfar Engineering is considering expansion into Iraq.

Vice chairman and MD Dr. P Mohammed Ali was reported by Muscat Daily as saying:

"Currently, we work out of Oman, India and Kuwait. We have plans to expand to countries such as Saudi Arabia and Iraq in the future. As we grow, our main aim will always be to focus on the critical activity of the business and to subcontract the rest to local contractors."

(Source: Construction Week Online)

By John Lee.

Asiacell’s share sale has been fully subscribed before its closing date, according to the IPO’s organizer.

Shwan Ibrahim Taha, chairman of Rabee Securities, confirmed to Bloomberg News:

"The offering is now comfortably covered with a good mix of retail and institutional demand from within Iraq as well as institutional and high net worth demand from abroad."

Asiacell Chief Executive Officer, Diar Ahmed, told the news agency:

"Such big success will encourage other big entities to follow suit and will help the Iraq Stock Exchange attract more institutional investors into Iraq."

The $1.3-billion fund-raising is the most for an IPO in the MENA region since Saudi Arabian Mining's share sale more than four years ago, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

"Asiacell will force international skeptics to reconsider their views about the exchange and Iraqi equities, and potentially lead to increased investment," Geoffrey Batt, managing director of the $44 million Euphrates Iraq Fund, told Bloomberg.

Shares are due to start trading on the Iraq Stock Exchange on 3rd February.

(Source: Bloomberg)

By John Lee.

Reuters reports that Iraq has sweetened the terms for oil contract buyers and is becoming more competitive on pricing.

Oil Minister Abdul Kareem Luaibi [Elaibi], who met customers in Vienna last month on the sidelines of the OPEC meeting, told the news agency:

"We were keen that I personally meet all the companies that buy Iraqi crude oil and hear their complaints directly from them ... After considering these problems in detail, we decided to improve the contractual terms and conditions as well as enhance the competitiveness of Iraq's crude oil."

Buyers had expressed concerns over the higher prices and the variable quality of Iraqi oil.

Customers said one change the Iraqis have offered to make is to demurrage - money to be paid in the event of a cargo loading outside the agreed period - which buyers said was costing them a fortune.

"They heard loud and clear that the demurrage payment, or lack thereof and huge delays to what was agreed, was affecting business," said a source at one company which buys Iraqi crude.

The customer, though, was "not overwhelmed" by the offer and a second buyer, involved in an oilfield project in southern Iraq, plans to visit Baghdad to follow up with the Iraqi State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO).

"So far, the changes are really not significant for us," said the second buyer. "We're still in discussions."

But Iraq also has another problem with the variable quality of the Basra Light and Kirkuk crude streams, due to the erratic flow of Kurdistan oil into the Kirkuk stream and the start-up of new fields in the south.

Changes in the crude's sulphur content and API gravity - a measure of its weight - affect its value and can cause processing problems for refineries configured for a certain gravity and sulphur level.

Iraq has managed to stablize the API of Basra Light at around 30 degrees, an Iraqi official said. A regular buyer of the grade confirmed the change.

Keeping the quality of Kirkuk stable will be more of a challenge after the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) halted shipments through the Baghdad-controlled Iraq-Turkey pipeline in December, due to the long-running feud over contracts and payments.

Luaibi told Reuters a subsea pipeline in the Gulf would be opened soon which would allow two offshore Single Point Moorings (SPMs) to load simultaneously, boosting capacity in the south to above 2.6 million bpd from about 2.3 million bpd now.

Iraq is also addressing concerns about high official selling prices for its Basra Light and Kirkuk crude oils, buyers say.

Despite the increasing supply, Basra Light has been more expensive for Asian buyers than a rival crude from Saudi Arabia, Arab Medium.

For February 2013, however, Iraq chose to raise its Basra Light price to Asia by 5 cents a barrel, while Saudi Arabia increased the prices of its Arab Light, Medium and Heavy crude to customers in the East by 15-30 cents.

"Most importantly, they recently have become more competitive with their prices compared to the usual following of the Saudi formulae," said a long-time buyer of Iraqi oil.

A second customer felt the Iraqis could do more. "A little bit but not enough. They need to get more realistic," the buyer said.

(Source: Reuters)

From Iran’s PressTV. Any opinions expressed are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News.

An analyst says, Iraq is being pressured with terrorist bomb attacks by foreign imperial entities and Persian Gulf dictatorships to reverse their position on Syria.

In the background of this at least 40 people have been killed in a series of bomb attacks in Baghdad as Iraq.

This incident is one of several that has brought a new realization of intention to destabilize the country of Iraq since US troops were forced to withdraw completely after their invasion and several years of occupation of the country.

Press TV has interviewed Mr. Mohsen Saleh, professor at the Lebanese University, Beirut about this issue:

(Source: PressTV)

Iraq can enjoy new economic opportunities and receive a boost to its efforts to promote democracy and human rights in the country thanks to its first-ever framework agreement with the EU. That is the view of Italian Christian Democrat MEP Mario Mauro (pictured), who is responsible for steering the agreement through Parliament. He is recommending his fellow MEPs to approve the partnership and cooperation agreement at the vote on Thursday. European Parliament News spoke to him about how the EU can help Iraq.

How can this deal help Iraq on its path to democracy, rule of law and effective protection of human rights?

Clearly, Iraq is in trouble and the transition is far from finished. At this time we have to create concrete opportunities for their economy and society. Our intention is to strengthen the country's economic infrastructure and to guarantee development and peace.

At the same time we have to be very clear when talking about human rights violations, e.g. religious discrimination. There is a lot of tension between Sunnis and Shiites and there is also the particular case of Christians in the country. The dramatic situation in Syria is another element of instability because of the refugees coming to Iraq.

We are very well aware of all this. But it is also important to underline that we are producing new opportunities for Iraqi people through money and the economic relationship. I suppose that is the best way to support democracy in Iraq. Our position is simple: we offer economic opportunities in exchange for human rights improvements.

When could we expect major improvements in Iraq?

We are in the middle of a big discussion about the rule of law in Iraq. We have to support the dialogue and strengthen civil society in the country, ensuring that it is possible for parties to take part in the debate. I think it is very important at this moment to be open to all proposals and listen to what they have to say

We need to remember that in the past Europe needed a long transition too. After seventy years we have peace but every day we still ask for more clarity in our political project.

It's unrealistic to expect Iraqi people to be able to solve the situation in a few years. It's a long process during which we can build a very strong friendship. I think this should be our goal.

Do you think Iraq is making any progress towards democracy?

I think so. People are concerned about the future and not thinking so much about the war. But Iraq is a country where exceptional interests come into play. We have to remember that Saudi Arabia, Iran and probably Turkey are interested in destabilising the country. So we need to stay near our Iraqi friends and foster dialogue in the country.

(Source: European Parliament News)