Will Parliament Resort To The Courts To Dismiss Al-Alaq?
Baghdad Member of the Parliamentary Integrity Committee, MP Hadi Al-Salami, revealed today, Friday, that the Governor of the Central Bank, Ali Al-Alaq, refused the request to host him in Parliament, while threatening to resort to the courts to file a complaint against the negligent.
Al-Salami said in a statement, “We previously approached the Parliament Presidency and approval was obtained to host the Governor of the Central Bank to direct a parliamentary question.”
He added, “The Governor of the Central Bank refuses to attend, and we will resort to the competent courts to file a complaint against anyone proven to be negligent regarding the difference between the official and parallel dollar rates.”
He explained that “the difference between the official and parallel rates reaches 35 million dollars per day.”
Government Advisor Expects Oil Prices To Rise To $90 By The End Of The Year
The financial advisor to the Prime Minister, Mazhar Muhammad Salih, expects oil prices to rise for the rest of this year 2024.
Saleh told Al Furat News Agency that “the decisions to reduce OPEC+ countries’ production quotas by 2.2 million barrels of crude oil per day are among the main factors in the current positive impact that has gradually led to an improvement in oil prices in the world after the wave of decline witnessed in the past weeks, which coincided with the wave of severe decline faced by global financial markets, in addition to the widespread concerns about global economic growth in general and the Chinese economy in particular.”
He added, “Despite this, OPEC and OPEC+ in particular are still cautious in managing supply, as previous expectations of increased oil production on the one hand and the varying expectations regarding the growth of global demand for oil on the other hand have kept prices somewhat volatile.”
“Currently, oil prices, especially Brent oil, are fluctuating today at around $74-75 per barrel for futures contracts, taking into account the importance of seasonal and market effects that have begun to maintain significant increases, although they are currently moderate, as the approach of winter can usually lead to a slight increase in global oil prices.
This is due to the increase in demand for heating fuels such as natural gas and other heating fuels, especially in colder regions such as Europe and North America,” Saleh continued.
“As temperatures drop, households and industries demand more energy to keep warm, increasing consumption of oil-based products. Thus, as the Russian-Ukrainian war continues and winter sets in, energy markets are rightly expecting a rise in demand for energy (oil and gas in particular) and the possibility of upward price adjustments in the contractual months leading up to winter,” he noted.
“Starting from September 2024, as we mentioned earlier, the total production cuts implemented by OPEC+ countries will amount to about 2.2 million barrels per day.
These cuts are part of a broader effort to stabilize global oil prices amid fluctuations in demand and market conditions, with Saudi Arabia contributing a significant cut of 1 million barrels per day, while other countries, notably Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Algeria, Kazakhstan and Oman, also implemented cuts ranging from 42,000 to 223,000 barrels per day, while Russia reduced its oil exports by 500,000 barrels per day, of crude oil and refined products,” the government advisor said.
“Based on the above, oil prices are expected to remain high for the rest of 2024, with many global oil forecasts suggesting that the average price of Brent crude could range around $85 to $90 per barrel by the end of the year.
Higher price levels will reflect the impact of supply cuts, which will help tighten global oil markets and eliminate any oil glut, even as demand remains somewhat weak due to the economic slowdown in some aspects of global growth, especially growth problems in the Chinese economy,” Saleh said.
Germany: Iraq’s Economy Is Showing Signs Of Improvement
Director of the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) offices in Iraq, Christoph Feldkötter, confirmed today, Thursday, that Iraq is making good progress towards economic stability, stressing the importance of updating tax laws in Iraq.
“Iraq is making good progress towards stability, as economic stability is an essential part of this progress,” Feldkötter told the Iraqi News Agency (INA), noting that
“economic reforms include developing the private sector.”
“There are many new sectors that have emerged in Iraq, such as transportation, the shift to the
e-economy, renewable energy, and other fields that did not exist twenty years ago,” Feldkötter explained. He stressed that
“this development requires updating tax laws, as it is not possible to apply tax instructions or laws that are twenty or thirty years old.” He pointed out that
“the existence of stable institutions is part of stability, which is what the German Agency is working to support through joint cooperation between experts from the Iraqi government and experts from the German government.”
Feldkötter expressed the German government’s “pride in this achievement, and its happiness with the partnership and mutual trust with the Iraqi government.”
“A Great Iraqi Desire To Turn Into A Gas Exporter”: Oil Ministry
Economy 18-09-2024, 16:43 Baghdad – INA The Ministry of Oil announced today, Wednesday, the referral of the flared gas file to projects under implementation, while
indicating that during the next 5 years, Iraq will be self-sufficient and will be a source of gas, indicating the signing of the Mansouriya field, which will provide 300 million standard cubic feet of gas.
The Deputy Minister of Oil for Extraction Affairs, Basem Mohammed Khudair, told the Iraqi News Agency (INA):
“This government, through the Ministry of Oil, has achieved a major change in the gas file, by referring all flared gas to projects under implementation to end this file.”
He explained that “we have a project of about 200 million standard cubic feet in Basra, the same in Nasiriyah, and 150 in the Nahr Bin Omar field, in addition to developing an integrated gas project and referring it to Total, which will collect gas from 5 important fields in the south, with a capacity of 600 million standard cubic feet in two phases, each phase 300 million.” He added,
“The Ministry of Oil, after great effort, succeeded in referring the Akkas field contract to the Ukrainian company, which will provide, after 6 years, a production capacity of up to 400 million standard cubic feet,” explaining that
“the Mansouriya field was signed with initials and in the coming days the final letters will be signed, and
this field will provide 300 million standard cubic feet.” He continued:
“This transition in the gas file and the referral of some gas fields in the annex of the fifth and sixth rounds will add significant production capacities to Iraq, and
during the year 2028 or 2030, Iraq will be self-sufficient,” stressing that “there is a great desire and insistence to transform Iraq into a gas exporting country.”
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Oil Heads For Weekly Gains After U.S. Rate Cut
Friday 20 September 2024 09:40 | Economic Number of readings: 176 Baghdad / NINA / Although oil prices did not witness any significant change in early Asian trading on Friday, they are heading to end the week on a rise that will be the second in a row, after a large cut in US interest rates and a decline in global inventories.
By Friday morning, Brent crude futures fell 19 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $73.69 a barrel, but rose 4.3 percent since the beginning of the week.
US crude futures rose six cents to $72.01 a barrel, achieving gains during the week of 4.8 percent. “
The two benchmarks began to recover after falling to their lowest levels in nearly three years on September 10, and recorded gains in five of the seven sessions since then.
The Federal Reserve (the US central bank) cut interest rates by half a percentage point, and interest rate cuts usually lead to a boost in economic activity and energy demand, but some viewed the large cut as a sign of weakness in the US labor market. / End9
Oil Heads For Weekly Gains After U.S. Rate Cut
Although oil prices did not witness any significant change in early Asian trading on Friday, they are heading to end the week on a rise that will be the second in a row, after a large cut in US interest rates and a decline in global inventories.
By Friday morning, Brent crude futures fell 19 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $73.69 a barrel, but rose 4.3 percent since the beginning of the week.
US crude futures rose six cents to $72.01 a barrel, achieving gains during the week of 4.8 percent. “
The two benchmarks began to recover after falling to their lowest levels in nearly three years on September 10, and recorded gains in five of the seven sessions since then.
The Federal Reserve (the US central bank) cut interest rates by half a percentage point, and interest rate cuts usually lead to a boost in economic activity and energy demand, but some viewed the large cut as a sign of weakness in the US labor market.
