Plus:
*2008 ends “sour” for Iraq oil, potential and roadblocks in 2009
*Natural gas loss at $15B annually
*Maliki makes first premier visit to KRG
*Elections and oil mark big 2009 in Iraq
*Minorities in Iraq: the other victims
*Alive in Baghdad: Iraq’s Free Press
*Iraq Press Roundup
*Much, much more…

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case that could decide how the “new” Iraq’s oil revenue could be held liable in the U.S. for the actions committed by Saddam Hussein.

The high court will review a decision by a federal appeals court which gave Americans allegedly held or otherwise harmed by Saddam Hussein in the 1990s the right to sue him in U.S. courts, Greg Stohr reports for Bloomberg News.

In 2003, President Bush and the U.N. Security Council issued orders giving immunity to Iraq’s revenue – nearly all of it oil proceeds – as well as leftover funds from the Oil for Food program and Saddam’s seized assets. The immunity is intended to keep creditors of the former regime from taking Iraq’s revenue as the country attempts to rebuild.

The funds are collected in an account in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and monitored by an international oversight board, a move to ensure the funds aren’t misused and to ensure transparency.
Iraq’s Ambassador to the U.S., Samir Sumaidaie, issued this statement following the Supreme Court decision:

The Republic of Iraq is gratified that the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether Iraq’s sovereign immunity has been restored in cases involving the actions of the former Saddam Hussein regime.

Iraq is grateful for the continuing support it has received from the U.S. Government on this important legal question.

The Saddam Hussein regime inflicted enormous damage on the people of Iraq, and they should not be subjected to further harm in foreign courts as Iraq continues to rebuild itself as friend of the United States under a new democratic government.

Resolution of the sort of claims brought in the lawsuits now before the Supreme Court, or other similar claims that might be brought against the U.S. in Iraqi courts, should be addressed through diplomatic channels and means, rather than by one nation unilaterally subjecting another sovereign nation to punitive lawsuits in its courts.

As an important friend of the United States, Iraq seeks to have its legal sovereignty restored to the same status as that of other allied nations.

Year ends on a sour note for Iraqi crude oil, but 2009 holds bidding rounds and possible production revival, the headline from the latest Platts Oilgram News (subscription required).

The “sour note” refers to Iraq’s oil production declining at the end of 2008, just as it needed it most because of the drop in oil prices.

Key excerpts from Oilgram report:

But 2009 should prove to be an eventful year for Iraqi oil, with possible awards of first round bids, a second bid round set in motion, a possible third bid round yet to be announced, movement on a gas deal concluded with Shell and the possible revival of production rates from its overworked southern oil fields. …

Some energy projects, including a proposed new 300,000 b/d refinery at Nassiriya might be casualties of tighter 2009 spending. ..

The decline in Iraq’s oil production and exports during the latter months of the year was caused by lower production from southern fields, which fell from an average 1.915 million b/d in the January-August period to around 1.81 million b/d in the fourth quarter. This drop in production from the south was attributed to high water content in some reservoirs, which forced the shutdown of some oil producing wells, Iraqi oil sources said. They also attributed the decrease to a shortfall of injection water to sustain reservoir pressures in the Mishrif pay of the North Rumaila field and to the absence of water injection to prevent the decline of production in the West Qurna oil field. The total loss in production due to this shortage of water injection alone is estimated to be around 150,000 b/d by Platts sources.

The Iraqi government viewed this decline in production so seriously that it formed a high level committee chaired by deputy prime minister Barham Saleh, and including former oil ministers Thamir Ghadban and Ibrahim Bahr al-Ulum, to investigate reasons for the production fall from the south and devise a plan to reverse the trend. …

Iraqi oil sources told Platts that the ministry in late August signed a memorandum of understanding with Nippon Oil of Japan and Italy’s Eni, acting jointly, for development of the Nassiriyah oil field in the south and build a 300,000 b/d refinery. The field contains 4.4 billion barrels of proven oil reserves and is capable of sustained production of around 300,000 b/d. However, sources told Platt’s that objections have been raised in some ministry quarters about the MOU because it was awarded without competition and without the involvement of the ministry division responsible for contracting and licensing.

Iraq is losing $15 billion a year in potential natural gas sales, gas currently being burned for lack of infrastructure to send it to market, South Oil Co. expert Mustafa AlMaliki tells Al Sabah newspaper. He also says the SOC has developed a project to train workers in modern oil industry techniques and is looking into establishing an industrial city near Khor al-Zubair.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is due to visit the country’s Kurdish autonomous region to discuss outstanding issues with the regional government. The visit will be al-Maliki’s first to the region since he took office in 2006.

Kurdish regional parliament speaker Adnan al-Mufti told Radio Free Iraq that al-Maliki’s talks with Kurdish officials will focus on such issues as oil deals signed by the regional government, regional government powers and, most importantly, the status of the oil-rich, multiethnic city of Kirkuk.

Iraq’s political scene will see a crucial 2009, with politicians gearing up for local elections later this month and the big Parliamentary vote late this year.

As The New York Times’ Timothy Williams and Suadad al-Salhy report in their piece ‘This Time, Iraqis Hear and See Candidates,’ campaigning for provincial elections is underway in the safest environment Iraq has seen since 2003, and their ballots won’t just have political parties but the names of candidates, a small but necessary step of desectarianization of politics in Iraq.

The elections are part of a series of votes scheduled in Iraq this year, including parliamentary elections and a referendum on the withdrawal of American forces. Taken together, they are expected to shape the political future of Iraq as it emerges from an extended period of sectarian violence and continues to wrestle with such basic questions as whether it will be a single nation or several. …

Provincial councils are roughly the equivalent of state legislatures in the United States, and the balloting for them is expected to correct underrepresentation in local governments among Sunni Arabs, particularly in areas where there has been heavy insurgent and sectarian violence, including Baghdad, Anbar, Diyala and Nineveh Provinces. Sunni Arabs largely boycotted the 2005 provincial elections.

There is widespread fear, however, that the vote may set off a new round of clashes. At least one candidate has been assassinated by political rivals and a number of opposition candidates have been arrested, several of whom are being investigated for terrorism-related charges in Diyala.

It will be a major test for Iraq and its political leaders, as one crucial test of government is its ability to peacefully hand over power. There aren’t expected to be too many surprises, but there will be change, with more Sunni representation in areas where they boycotted elections last time around and have been disproportionately represented by Shia politicians, and perhaps different Shia or Sunni parties getting slight better prominence. (Editor’s Note: this is referring to the current political situation, and does not assume that Iraqis would vote on sectarian lines if it weren’t for the post-2003 sectarianization of the security and political process.)

One issue sure to be used in campaigning, especially for the national elections, is the status of the oil sector, both in the success of expanding it (i.e. services to people) and the issue of foreign companies vs. the national sector. Mohammed AlDynie, a Member of Parliament from the Iraqi Front for National Dialogue, has taken up this issue and a copy of a recent announcement, translated to English, was given to Iraq Oil Report and, largely unedited, Iraq Oil Report gives it to you.

The U.S. – Iraq Business Dialogue forum, a pro-private sector Iraq investment group, is accepting application for four new members. The forum is a project of the Iraq Investment and Reconstruction Task Force, an arm of the U.S. Commerce Department’s International Trade Administration.

Details on applying for membership can be found in the Federal Register notice here. Excerpt:

The U.S. Department of Commerce and the Iraqi Ministry of Trade established the Dialogue as a bilateral forum to facilitate private sector business growth in Iraq and to strengthen trade and investment ties between the United States and Iraq. …

The Dialogue consists of a U.S. Section and an Iraqi Section. Each Section consists of members from the private sector, representing the views and interests of the private sector business community. Each Party appoints the members to its respective Section. The Sections provide advice and counsel to the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Iraqi Ministry of Trade that reflect private sector views, needs, and concerns regarding private sector business development in Iraq and enhanced bilateral commercial ties that could form the basis for expanded trade between the United States and Iraq.

The Dialogue will exchange information and encourage bilateral discussions that address the following areas:

–Factors that affect the growth of private sector business in Iraq, including disincentives to trade and investment and regulatory obstacles to job creation and investment growth;

–Initiatives that the Government of Iraq might take, such as enacting, amending, enforcing, or repealing laws and regulations, to promote private sector business growth in Iraq;

–Promotion of business opportunities in both Iraq and the United States, and identification of opportunities for U.S. and Iraqi firms to work together; and

–Attracting U.S. businesses to opportunities in Iraq and serving as a catalyst for Iraqi private sector growth.

Arab Sunni factions will meet in Baghdad on January 10 to nominate a replacement for Iraqi parliament speaker Mahmud al-Mashhadani, who resigned following protests over his temper and offensive language, Radio Free Iraq reports.The speaker post is reserved for Sunni Arabs, and the new parliament head will be chosen on January 11.

Minorities in Iraq: The Other Victims, a new report by former Arab League Special Envoy to Iraq Mokhtar Lamani, now a senior visiting fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation.

Until my resignation in January 2007 … I witnessed that all Iraqis from different ethnic, religious and sectarian backgrounds were not only suffering but were also victims to the collapse of the foundations of their societies rooted in Mesopotamian heritage. The Iraqi crisis becomes a question of life or death for hundreds of thousands of people; it is also a threat to a critical part of human history and civilization. …

All Iraqis are suffering but there are specificities to the case of minorities that put them at exceptional threat. It has been estimated that because of sectarianism and recent changes to Iraqi society, as many as 25-30% of the population have been forced to leave their homes and are either internally or externally displaced. However, for minorities the percentage of those displaced is actually much higher. More than 80% of the Mandaean population has been forced to flee; for Christians and other ethnic or religious groups, nearly 60% of their populations are displaced. …

Iraqi minorities are at risk of extinction. …

Alive in Baghdad: Iraq’s Free Press?

Newspapers in Iraq have a long history during Iraq’s various regimes and government changes. These changes left a strong impact on writing, journalism, and educating the Iraqi population. There were very few newspapers or magazines in the 40s and 50s, and the number of news journals during the government of Abdul Karim Qassem was not more than five. After the invasion in 2003, and the fall of Baghdad, more than 200 newspapers were published, some of the newspapers were daily, and the rest were released weekly or monthly. The majority of these newspapers belong to political parties, very few of them are completely independent, or working independently.

Read what Iraqis read: the Iraq Press Roundup by UPI’s Alaa Majeed.

Some prisoners held indefinitely without charge by U.S. forces in Iraq may not be freed or given trials, even though U.S. forces lost the authority to hold them at the beginning of this year, a U.S. military spokesman said, Peter Graff and Ahmed Rasheed report for Reuters.

Obama: Listen to Iraqi Opinion, a scathing review (preview) of the new U.S. administration’s Iraq policy by Eric Stoner in Foreign Policy In Focus.

Two Iraqi players will represent their country in the world tae kwon do tournament for juniors to be hosted in the United States next February, a source in Iraq’s tae kwon do federation said, Voices of Iraq reports.

“Naz Ahmed and Niaz Ahmed will represent Iraq in the 13-14 age category of the juniors’ tae kwon do tournament in the United States,” said Saddad Mohammed, the federation’s financial affairs chief.

Iraqi sports officials echoed the disappointment of the national soccer team’s fans after Iraq was knocked out of the Gulf Cup with a 4-0 loss to Oman on January 7.

One Iraqi told Radio Free Iraq that “[the team's] morale was very bad. But it is the fault of the players and [Coach Jorvan Vieira of Brazil].”

This comes after the Iraqi Soccer Team won the 2007 Asia Cup Championship, a proud moment for Iraqis.

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