Sunday PM Iraq Economic News Highlights 7-31-22
A Financial Official Explains The Repercussions Of The Devaluation Of Currencies On The Iraqi Dinar
Economie| 10:56 – 31/07/2022 Special – Mawazine News, between the former official of the Financial Supervision Bureau, Salah Nouri, today, Sunday, the impact of fluctuation and depreciation of hard currencies in the Iraqi dinar.
In an exclusive interview with Mawazine News, Nouri said, “The drop in the exchange rate against some foreign currencies, except for the euro, is slight, and that dollar prices have not experienced any global decline.” He pointed out that “Iraq remains safe from this decline until today, and the value of the Iraqi dinar has not been affected.” Ended 29 / 99 https://www.mawazin.net/Details.aspx?jimare=201045
The Ministry Of Electricity Announces Reaching The Highest Production In The History Of The System In Iraq
Iraq 10:38 – 07-31-2022 The Ministry of Electricity announced the achievement of an unprecedented historical production of the electric power system and a high stability in supplying citizens with electricity.
And the ministry stated in a statement, “We worked hard and started reaping the fruits of the efforts of our heroic angels, who worked day and night, despite security, economic and financial challenges, and the decline and rise of national gas and resource emissions, and despite a health pandemic in which the heroes of the Ministry of Health were the first line, our angels (first service line) ), to sustain the momentum of work and serve the citizens.
And she continued, “Where in a permanently held operations room, and a crisis cell that did not leave its meetings for months, and under direct supervision, follow-ups and field tours from the Minister of Electricity, Engineer Adel Karim, and the advanced staff, and high coordination with the central government and great support from Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi, the Mujahideen continue And the Ministry of Electricity canceled their work on increasing production and introducing transmission lines to achieve sufficient availability that had not been achieved before, rehabilitating the distribution sector and increasing the number of fixed and mobile transformer stations, in order to serve our great Iraq and our dear citizens.
And it indicated that it announces its arrival today, Saturday, to the highest production achieved by the Iraqi electrical system since the date of its establishment, which is (23,258) megawatts, and with high stability, with a note that if financial support and budgets were available, we would have proceeded with implementing the short ceiling of the ministry’s plan within one year, which was going By increasing and adding seven thousand new megawatts.
And she indicated, “It is hoped (in the coming days) to achieve a higher increase in production after entering a number of stations to work, such as Salah El-Din Thermal, crutch station, and other stations,” stressing that it will proceed with its plans to introduce combined cycles, and cooling systems, in all gas stations, in addition to proceeding with projects. Solar power plants, waste recycling, and electrical interconnection projects, which will achieve high reliability and great stability for the electrical network.
165 Thousand Barrels Per Day, The Average Of Iraq’s Oil Exports To America Last Week
Energy Economy News-Baghdad On Sunday, the US Energy Information Administration announced a decrease in Iraq’s oil exports to the United States during the past week.
The administration said in a report that “the average US imports of crude oil during the past week from eight countries amounted to 5.349 million barrels per day, down by 373,000 barrels per day compared to the previous week, which amounted to 5.722 million barrels per day.”
She added that “Iraq’s oil exports to America amounted to an average of 165,000 barrels per day last week, down from the previous week, when oil exports to America averaged 454,000 barrels per day.”
The report also indicated that “most of America’s oil revenues during the past week came from Canada, at a rate of 3.308 million barrels per day, followed by Mexico at a rate of 639,000 barrels per day, and oil revenues from Saudi Arabia at a rate of 516,000 barrels per day, and then Brazil at a rate of 278,000 barrels per day. “.
According to the administration, “the amount of US imports of crude oil from Colombia and Ecuador amounted to an average of 150,000 barrels per day for each one, and from Nigeria at a rate of 143,000 barrels per day, while no quantity was imported from Trinidad and Tobago or Russia.”
Views 71 Added 07/31/2022 – 9:17 AM Update 07/31/2022 – 12:55 PM
Iraq’s Offshore Oil Export Pipelines Are Vulnerable To Environmental Disaster
Shafaq News/ Iraq’s production of crude oil has stagnated in recent months, despite the increase in the quota under the OPEC + agreement, which is largely restricted by its inability to export more quantities through its southern port on the Arabian Gulf.
According to S&P Global Commodity Insights, near-term prospects for increased loading volumes at its old Gulf facility in Basra are bleak, Iraqi officials acknowledge, preventing any meaningful production gains that would allow the struggling country Financial distress by taking advantage of high oil prices.
The deteriorating pipelines connecting the terminal to the loading docks pose a significant risk of catastrophic environmental disaster.
Iraq produced 4.38 million barrels per day of crude oil in June, including from the Kurdistan Region, slightly higher than the March production level of 4.34 million barrels per day.
Also, production did not keep pace with Iraq’s share, which rose from 4.37 million barrels per day in March to 4.509 million barrels per day in June and is scheduled to increase to 4.651 million barrels per day in August.
Figures indicate that until the restoration of southern Iraq’s exports to this April 2020 level will still require the country to keep production below its quota in OPEC +, as storage facilities in Basra are full, and local refineries and power stations are limited in what they can consume, port data showed. Crude oil stocks in the southern reservoirs have reached about 6.8 million barrels, about 72% of their total capacity of 9.5 million barrels.
Flows in the port of Basra are hindered by the deterioration of two marine lines feeding the berths from the station, and sources familiar with the matter said that bulges have appeared at the end of these lines in recent months, and are feared that they will explode and cause a major oil spill into the Gulf.
This has forced the Basra Oil Company to cut berth pumping rates by more than 25%, to about 54,000 b/h from previous levels of 70,000 b/h.
The cruise lines were built in the late 1970s and were due to be replaced decades ago, but were never implemented due to funding problems, political turmoil and other delays.
Iraqi officials aim to increase southern export capacity to 3.35 million barrels per day by September, said the deputy director of the state oil marketing company SOMO.
“For now, this is what we believe we can achieve, considering not only the limitations on export capacity, but also rehabilitation activities that may cause halts at times,” said Ali Al Shatari.
“That number could go up, of course, but I’m a bit conservative until I see plans to develop export facilities move forward.”
Of this volume, SOMO expects Basra Heavy to average 1.1 million bpd in July and Basra Medium, 2.2 million bpd, Shatari said.
The current high price environment represents an opportunity for Iraq to raise the necessary funding to replace its aging sea lines, which will likely take about two years to complete from the signing of the contract. LINK
The New York Times: Oil Prices May Rise To $200 A Barrel
Energy Economy News-Baghdad The New York Times warned that the situation is about to take a turn for the worse, as new sanctions that the European Union and Britain have agreed to impose on Russia by the end of the year are likely to push up oil prices .
The newspaper wrote that the United States and its allies relied heavily on imposing economic sanctions to punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. But it seems that a key element in that strategy, the restrictions on Russian oil exports, often causes hardship and harm to ordinary people in other countries .
European countries, in particular, have caused massive damage to their economies without reducing Russian oil revenues .
The newspaper stressed that the countries seeking to help Ukraine are aiming at the wrong goal, that is, by focusing on reducing Russian energy exports rather than reducing its export profits, as Russia exports less oil, but in the opposite way, it makes more money, according to the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air in Finland. Sanctions raised prices more than offsetting the decline in exports. In May 2022, Russia earned €883 million per day from oil exports, up from €633 million per day in May 2021 .
The newspaper warned that the situation is about to take a turn for the worse, as the new sanctions that the European Union and Britain agreed to impose on Russia by the end of the year are likely to push up oil prices .
Some analysts warn that the price of a barrel of oil may exceed $200, which could easily push Western economies into recession. Views 221 Added 07/31/2022 – 12:22 PM Update 07/31/2022 – 6:33 PM
https://economy-news.net/content.php?id=29081
Iraq Produces About 4 Million Tons Of Cement During The First Half Of 2022
Reconstruction and building Economy News-Baghdad The General Company for Iraqi Cement, one of the companies of the Ministry of Industry and Minerals, revealed, on Sunday, the quantities achieved in the production of cement for the first half of this year and for all its laboratories .
The company’s general manager, Engineer Bassem Mohamed Amin, said in a statement, “During the first half of this year, the company achieved a production of (3,893,313) tons, despite all the obstacles that faced the production process, stressing that the company is working in accordance with the ministry’s directives and plans. Increasing production and reducing costs through periodic maintenance, rehabilitation and participation in the operation of laboratories with investment companies .
He explained, “Despite all efforts and plans, the cement industry is facing real problems due to the high costs that were added to production costs after the increase in black oil prices to (350) dinars per liter .”
The Director General appealed to the relevant authorities “to support the cement industry, which is considered the second most important industry in Iraq after oil, as a result of the availability of its primary resources and the accumulated experiences of its cadres, and because it has achieved self-sufficiency for the country for the eighth year in a row in cement, at appropriate prices and high quality, according to laboratory tests and field experiments.” 43 . views Added 07/31/2022 – 11:23 AM Update 07/31/2022 – 1:03 PM LINK
The “second most important industry” in Iraq is exposed to “real problems” due to the high costs
Shafaq News/ The General Company for Iraqi Cement, one of the companies of the Ministry of Industry and Minerals, complained on Sunday that the cement industry in Iraq has faced problems due to the high financial costs of production.
The company’s general manager, Basem Muhammad Amin, said in a statement to the media office in the ministry, that the company achieved during the first half of this year a production of (3,893,313) tons, despite all the obstacles facing the production process, stressing that the company is working in accordance with the ministry’s directives and plans to increase production and reduce production. Costs through periodic maintenance and rehabilitation and participation in the operation of laboratories with investment companies.
At the same time, he pointed out that despite all efforts and plans, the cement industry is facing real problems due to the high costs that were added to production costs after the increase in black oil prices to (350) dinars per liter.
The Director General appealed to the relevant authorities to support the cement industry, which is considered the second most important industry in Iraq after oil as a result of the availability of its primary resources and the accumulated experiences of its cadres, and because it has achieved self-sufficiency for the country and for the eighth year in a row in cement, at appropriate prices and high quality, according to laboratory tests and field experiments.
The Minister of Industry and Minerals, Manhal Aziz Al-Khabbaz, had announced in March of the year 2022 that the Iraqi General Cement Company had produced more than 7 million tons of this substance during the year 2021.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the prices of foodstuffs, goods, consumables, building materials, medicines and other imported materials that are included in the daily needs of the population in Iraq have risen. LINK
