(Note to readers: Iraq Oil Report this week will continue to be the fully packed but contextually abridged version as the OPEC Summit in Riyadh cares not for the tired and overworked. Enjoy!)
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Iraq’s Oil
In a move that could affect Canadian companies, Iraq is in talks with several foreign oil firms to help it ramp up its war-torn oil industry, but those that signed side agreements with the Northern region of Kurdistan have put their capital at risk, the country’s oil minister warned yesterday. — Claudia Cattaneo in the Financial Post
Final approval of a long-awaited Iraqi oil law that would help usher in new investment is months away, Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani said on Thursday.Reuters via The Guardian.
Iraq’s government has allocated US$2 billion for investment to increase oil production, the country’s oil minister said Thursday. — Associated Press via International Herald Tribune.
Iraq has threatened to bar Reliance Industries (RIL) from oil deals for signing oil block contracts in the Kurdish region. — Rajeev Jayaswal in The Economic Times
Reliance Industries today said its agreement with the autonomous Kurdish Regional Government in northern Iraq for two oil blocks conformed to law — Press Trust of India via The Statesman.
Norwegian oil producer DNO ramped up oil production in Iraq in the third quarter, helping boost operating results, but its prospects for quickly tapping an export pipeline to Turkey appeared to have faded — Reuters via Iraq Updates.
DNO posted third-quarter pretax profits below expectations after booking higher-than-expected exploration costs during the period, but the company played down concerns about the various risks facing its key operations in Northern Iraq — Thompson Financial.
Oil interdictions down since PEZ construction began — LuAnne Fantasia in BlackAnthem.com (Military news).
Although construction on the 80-kilometer pipeline exclusion zone project, or PEZ, only began in mid-July, the project is already reinforcing efforts to deter costly interdictions.
“Since early August, the Northern Oil Company has been able to export oil through Turkey on a more consistent basis,” said Maj. Antonio Jimenez, project manager for this Reconstruction project that will potentially save the Iraqi government more than $30 million a day when completed next spring.
Iraq’s Gas
Iraq’s natural gas could become an alternative resource for the Nabucco natural gas pipeline project if European Union countries demand it, according to Energy Minister Hilmi Güler, who also noted that the natural gas resources of Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Iran and Egypt are also possible resources for Nabucco — Today’s Zaman.
Iraq’s Electricity
Key test in Iraq: Is the power on? The US scrambles to increase hours of power to Iraqi homes. Gordon Lubold in The Christian Science Monitor.
It is emblematic of the large challenges facing the military’s most important noncombat counterinsurgency tool: the provision of clean water, working sewage systems, and electric power to a population hungry for them.
US officials have long maintained that if Iraqis had these basic services, they would be less inclined to support the insurgency. Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, the No. 2 US commander in Iraq, sees electricity as the No. 1 priority.
“We now need to start to improve the basic services,” General Odierno said while in Washington last month. “If we can do that, I think we will see a tipping point” in Iraqi tolerance of the US occupation and support for the current Iraqi regime, he said.
CORRECTION, General.You should have started to improve basic services – aka human rights, source of human dignity and most importantly, hope – on day one. Ah well, next time.
Security, Society and Politics
Also known as “You can’t operate an oil sector if…”
The Iraq Press Roundup — Hiba Dawood for United Press International.
Members of a Sunni Muslim group, formed with U.S. backing to fight Sunni militants, charged Wednesday that a lengthy U.S. air and ground attack killed at least seven of its fighters. — Leila Fadel and Mohammed al Dulaimy in McClatchy Newspapers
Iraq’s key political benchmarks. — Reuters
The Role of Kurds in the New Iraq with Omar Fatah, Deputy Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government, Nov. 19 at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington, D.C.
Basra militants targeting women — Mona Mahmoud and Mike Lanchin for the BBC.
Shiite Politics in Iraq: The Role of the Supreme Council — International Crisis Group.
Its defining characteristics are a strong organisation, whose leadership hails from one of Najaf’s leading families, the Hakims; a surprising political pragmatism in light of profound sectarian inclinations; and a somewhat incongruous dual alliance with the U.S. and Iran.
Since its founding a quarter century ago, it has followed a trajectory from Iranian proxy militia to Iraqi governing party, whose leader, Abd-al-Aziz al-Hakim, has been courted and feted by the Bush White House. Today, it is engaged in a fierce competition with its main Shiite rival, the movement led by Muqtada al-Sadr, which may well determine Iraq’s future.
To help shape the party into a more responsible actor, the U.S. should stop using it as a privileged instrument in its fight against the Sadrists but press it to cut ties with its more sectarian elements and practices.
U.S. military commanders in Iraq said the lack of political progress by Iraqi leaders isn’t complimenting the stated goals of the troop surge — United Press International.
IRAQ: Corruption Adds to Baquba’s Problems. This follows the failed promises of reform, reconstruction and rehabilitation at the beginning of the U.S. occupation of Iraq. Billions of dollars of U.S. and Iraqi funds were set aside for rebuilding Iraq, ruined by four years of occupation, 12 years of sanctions, and 30 years of dictatorship. There is little to show for these vast amounts of aid money. — Ahmed Ali for Inter Press Service.
The Realities of “Getting Out Of Iraq” by Christine E. Wormuth and Implications of the Iraqi Refugee Crisis by Jon B. Alterman, two articles in the new Global Forecast: The Top Security Challenges of 2008 — Center for Strategic and International Studies.
IQD75 billion for revitalization of Basra’s marshland area — Iraq Development Program.
The plight of the refugees: Syria is finding it hard to cope with the flood of refugees from Iraq. — The Economist.
FBI finds Blackwater Iraq shootings unjustified, report says — Associated Press.
Following confirmation of the attendance of the Iraqi Ministers of Defence and National Security Affairs, the Iraq Development Program is delighted to announce the participation and endorsement of the leading private security sector associations in the build-up to its forthcoming Iraq Defence, Security & Communications Summit in Dubai — Iraq Development Program.
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