Monday Morning Iraq Economic News Highlights 7-10-23
The Most Controversial Law.. Oil And Gas Are Back To The Fore Again
Baghdad – Nas Official circles are waiting for the start of a new phase of the journey to resolve the fate of the draft oil and gas law, as one of the most controversial laws after 2003. The renewed oil dispute between Baghdad and Erbil in each government was a cause of political estrangement at times and turned into part of the settlement files built on Its basis is a fragile relationship between the federal government and the Kurdistan region.
The oil and gas law is a pending file, so as soon as an interim agreement saw the light – as happened before the formation of the government – the draft law was left in the drawers of Parliament.
On February 15, 2022, the Federal Supreme Court ruled that the private oil and gas law in the regional government was unconstitutional. The decision also stipulated that the oil contracts concluded by the Kurdistan government with oil companies, parties, and foreign countries are invalid.
Representatives believe that the current time is one of the best times for passing the complex law, thanks to partial and interim stability in the relationship between Baghdad and Erbil, despite the Kurdistan Judicial Council’s rejection of the Federal Supreme Court’s decision to hand over crude oil to the federal government, stressing the constitutionality of the oil law in force in the region.
The oil and gas law in Iraq, which has been awaiting legislation in Parliament since 2005, stipulates that the management of all oil fields in the country must be under the responsibility of a national oil company under the supervision of a specialized federal council.
A member of the Parliamentary Energy Committee, Kazem Al-Touki, said, “The oil and gas law consists of political and technical aspects,” pointing to the need to take into account the timing of its approval by saying that “the best time to pass it is the current time, because the Kurdish parties are forced to legislate it after preventing the region from exporting oil, and this It means more flexibility in Erbil’s position.”
The federal government had resorted to international arbitration procedures with Turkey in 2014 at the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris, which in 2022 issued its decision in favor of Baghdad. The ruling led to the suspension of exports and obligated the Kurdistan government to negotiate with the federal government.
And the representative of the National Union, Karwan Ali, expected that “the oil and gas law will be approved according to the government’s curriculum during the coming months, because it is an important law and regulates the extraction of the country’s wealth.”
Ali believes that “it is unreasonable for a country like Iraq to remain without an oil and gas law,” stressing that “this law will fundamentally solve the problems between Baghdad and Erbil, and it may be approved within 6 months.” Source: the official newspaper https://www.nasnews.com/view.php?cat=110607
Syria.. A New Exchange Rate For The Remittance Dollar
Information/Baghdad… The Central Bank of Syria set the exchange rate of the Syrian pound against the US dollar for remittances and exchange at 8,800 pounds.
According to the remittance and exchange bulletin issued today by the Central Bank, the exchange rate of the Syrian pound against the euro was set at 9,638.64 pounds.
This bulletin is issued according to the Central Bank for the purpose of cash disbursement, the purchase of foreign commercial transfers and incoming transfers to natural persons, including transfers received through global transfer networks.
On the 6th of this month, the Central Bank set the exchange rate of the Syrian pound against the dollar for remittances and exchange at 8,500 pounds for the dollar, and 9,216.98 pounds for the euro. LINK
Exchange Rates Are Close To 149,000 Per Hundred Dollars In The Iraqi Markets
Economy 2023-07-10 | 1,479 views Alsumaria News – Economy Alsumaria News publishes the exchange rates of the dollar against the Iraqi dinar in the Iraqi local markets, for Monday, July 10, 20
According to the Iraq Stock Exchange [/url] website”, the exchange rates were as follows:
Baghdad Offered: 148,750 Wanted: 146,750
North Offered: 148,750 Wanted: 146,750
South Offered: 148,750 Wanted: 146,750
The Central Bank of Iraq decided earlier to adjust the exchange rate of the dollar against the Iraqi dinar, as the price of buying a dollar from the Ministry of Finance reached 1,300 dinars per dollar and sold it at (1310) dinars per dollar to banks through the electronic platform, and it is sold At (1320) dinars for each dollar from banks and non-bank financial institutions to the final beneficiary. LINK
Expectations Of A Rise In Oil Prices And Calls For Exploiting The Abundance
Economical 2023/07/10 : Haider Fleeh Al-Rubaie The Parliamentary Oil and Gas Committee suggested that the recovery of oil prices will continue until the end of this year, after the prices of “black gold” touched the $75 limits, stressing the need to exploit the financial abundance achieved in establishing productive projects capable of reducing total dependence on oil imports, and investing them to develop Industry, agriculture and supporting the infrastructure of the real private sector.
Oil exports during last June, according to the Ministry of Oil, amounted to (100) million and (59) thousand and (52) barrels, with revenues exceeding seven billion dollars, and a daily export rate of (3) million and (335) thousand barrels, at a price of (71.11). ) dollars per barrel.
According to the Minister of Oil, Hayan Abdul Ghani, the sixth licensing round that Iraq is looking forward to holding, aims to achieve self-sufficiency in gas within 5 years, and to reach oil production to the limits of six million barrels per day, stressing that the decisive decisions approved by OPEC and OPEC Plus will maintain market stability. globally.
Member of the Parliamentary Oil, Gas and Natural Resources Committee, Representative Zainab Juma Al-Moussawi, confirmed that “according to global indicators, crude oil prices continue to rise until the end of this year, especially after they recently touched the limits of $75 per barrel, and that this increase would help Iraq.” To bridge the fiscal deficit in the federal budget 2023 and develop the national economy.
Al-Moussawi believes that “the rise in crude oil prices will reflect positively on the economy because it maximizes its revenues and enables it to overcome the negative financial impact resulting from the suspension of exports from the fields of Kurdistan and Kirkuk,” stressing the need to “optimize the financial abundance achieved in the development of industry and agriculture and support the infrastructure of the private sector.” real, to operate factories and factories and produce locally made goods and services ».
In line with the recommendations of the Parliamentary Oil Committee, the oil expert, Dr. Bilal Al-Khalifa, expected during his interview with Al-Sabah that oil prices would continue to rise in the coming periods, citing the growing global demand for black gold and the continuation of international conflicts, especially the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Al-Khalifa explained that oil price estimates are currently linked between “America and Europe on the one hand, and OPEC Plus on the other hand,” as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries strives to ensure that the price of a barrel remains close to $80, especially since some OPEC member states have built their budgets on Comparable prices, stressing at the same time that this price constituted a great burden on Europe, and it is trying by all means to reduce it to less than 70 dollars.
The expert, al-Khalifa, suggested that the price of oil would remain confined between 70 and 80 dollars, stressing the need to exploit the financial abundance achieved as a result of this increase in the establishment of projects that would leave the “rentier economy” and reduce dependence on oil revenues to support the country’s financial budgets. https://alsabaah.iq/80308-.html
Oil Paradoxes
Economical 2023/07/10 Thamer Al-Haimus, SOMO Oil Marketing Company, announced that the average price of crude oil exported to Jordan amounted to (58) dollars during the month of June. Thus, Iraq sold one barrel of crude oil to Jordan last month for less than 12 dollars from the official selling price declared by by the Ministry of Oil.
These may have been within political contexts since before 2003 due to considerations that still exist until now, and these exceptions may be made due to the absence of the oil and gas law, whose drafts ranged from 16 years ago to be followed, just as the National Oil Company is still almost absent, as it may not have a full owner. about the scope of its powers.
Our neighbors from the West and the North are betting on the strategic and vital relationship of Iraq, as if we are without a sea view, to pay the price for that with pipelines and denials in progress or future projects, and at special prices that cannot be understood economically or financially.
If we had an oil industry, at least any derivatives, the matter would have been more acceptable legally and constitutionally, or the matter could be accepted in light of the recent changes globally and regionally, so that our crude oil would be close to Europe through (Ceyhan and Aqaba). The issue becomes more acceptable.
Perhaps we are the only country in the world whose backbone, arms, and feet are oil, as was evident in our tripartite budget. Perhaps we are comparable to Nigeria or Venezuela, in this excessive dependence. We were not shaken economically when more than half of our waters were cut off, but we tremble with terror as we watch the price of a barrel of oil.
Crude oil, for fear that it will fall a little below seventy dollars as a component of our budget, we consider it accurate, as we fear that the budget deficit will worsen. And so we take risks, and extreme caution usually becomes the weapon of risk. The three paradoxes in front of this impasse would not have taken place if we had not ignored the larger law.
In any case, it is not more important than the constitution that was legislated within a few months and not sixteen years in the consensual waiting list, according to which the National Oil Company and our oil industry, thanks to which we are still in difficulty Its birth, we import oil derivatives in addition to gas, which was finally found to be wasted.
We hope, after witnessing the last glimmer of the corridor, that these paradoxical gaps will be bridged. The matter will be resolved during this year in order for the visions to become clearer so that the glimmer will be bright, and God is sufficient for us, and He is the best disposer of affairs. https://alsabaah.iq/80306-.html
The Coordination Framework Calls On The Government To Approach The United States To Facilitate The Payment Of Iranian Financial Dues
Policy 2023/07/10, the number of readings: 138 Baghdad-Iraq today: The coordination framework called on the government to address America to pay the financial dues for importing Iranian gas.
The framework said, in a statement received by (Iraq Today), that “the country is witnessing a crisis that is burdening the Iraqi citizen because of the lack of electricity supply in light of the difficult climatic conditions and the high temperatures.”
He added, “After follow-up, investigation, and clarification of the reasons, we call on the Iraqi government, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to contact the American side and force it to immediately release the financial dues resulting from the Iranian import.” gas without delay or procrastination, and not to use this file politically to avoid its negative repercussions on the Iraqi citizen.” LINK
