Iraq News Highlights and Points To Ponder Thursday Afternoon 10-3-24

Dollar Trading Halted In Anbar Due To High Exchange Rate

Economy   Today    Information/Anbar  Exchange offices in Anbar province have refrained from buying and selling the dollar after sudden speculations led to a rise in the exchange rate.

A source in the governorate told Al-Maalouma Agency that "the fluctuation in the exchange rate of the dollar, which rose suddenly, led to exchange offices refraining from trading in the currency."

He added, "The exchange offices are waiting for the market to stabilize to resume trading in the dollar."

He explained that "a force from the National Security Service carried out a security operation targeting a number of exchange offices in search of exchange rate speculators."

He explained, "The exchange rate jumped to 155 thousand dinars for every 100 dollars after it was 150 thousand dinars for every 100 dollars." End 12A  LINK

Dollar Storm Hits Local Markets.. Only Half A Point Left For 155 Thousand - Urgent

Economy |Baghdad Today - Baghdad

Today, Thursday (October 3, 2024), the dollar exchange rates recorded a new rise in the main stock exchanges and local markets in Iraq.

Baghdad Today correspondent said that the exchange rates in the main stock exchange in the capital, Baghdad, recorded a price of 153,500 dinars for every 100 dollars.

He added that the selling price of the dollar in local markets was 154,500 dinars, while the buying price was 152,500 dinars for every 100 dollars.

He added that the selling price of the dollar in Erbil reached 154,500 dinars, while the purchase price reached 153,750 dinars for every 100 dollars.

He pointed out that the selling price of the dollar in Basra reached 154,000 dinars, while the purchase price reached 153,500 dinars for every 100 dollars.   LINK

This Is Why Oil Traders Are Betting On It Rising To $100 

Energy   Economy News - Follow-up  A wave of crude oil options that could be triggered if prices rise to $100 a barrel were traded on Wednesday, a sign that some traders are looking to hedge against the risk of supply disruptions in the Middle East.

At 11:20 a.m. in New York, about 27 million barrels of Brent crude were trading at $100 for December options, while more than 7 million barrels of U.S. crude were trading at $100 for December options.

Market participants said the flows were likely a mix of buying and selling. While some traders were trying to hedge against a short-term surge in oil prices, others had sold call options in recent weeks and had to cover those positions.

I think of $100 call options as insurance policies for people who are hoping their insurance policy is going to be worthless,” said Scott Shelton, an energy specialist at TPICAP Group Plc.[/rtl]

“I still think there is potential for a significant loss of production, but when it comes to geopolitics, it is always difficult to predict,” he added, noting that the fundamental balance between supply and demand remains weak overall

Brent crude on Tuesday posted its biggest daily swing since March last year as Iran launched a missile attack on Israel and Tel Aviv vowed to retaliate, a move that rippled through an oil market that had seen heavy selling in previous weeks

The increased interest in options contracts, which bet on rising prices, has led to their value soaring. For example, options contracts on West Texas Intermediate and Brent crude oil have hit $100, the highest level since mid-August.

However, traders warn that this bullish trend in options may be driven by a market that is certain to face an oversupply in the coming months, with unstable demand growth and increased production from OPEC+ members and other producers

While some contracts were traded directly, others were spreads that involved simultaneously buying $100 options and selling related contracts, such as $120 options, limiting the ultimate profit from the upside33 views 2024/10/03 - https://economy-news.net/content.php?id=48295

Baghdad And Washington Discuss Enhancing Joint Cooperation In The Fields Of Energy, Oil And Economy

Thursday 03 October 2024 12:32 | Economic Number of readings: 44  Baghdad / NINA / Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Fuad Hussein discussed with the US Under Secretary of State for Management, Ambassador John Bass, and the Energy Affairs Officer, Ambassador Jeffrey Bate, enhancing joint cooperation in the fields of energy, oil and economy.

A statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that Hussein met with John Bass and Jeffrey Bate on the sidelines of the ministerial meeting of the international coalition against ISIS held in Washington. During the meeting, they discussed enhancing joint cooperation in the fields of energy, oil and economy, and continuing diplomatic efforts to maintain the stability and security of Iraq.

The two sides also discussed the need to protect sea lanes to ensure the export of Iraqi and Gulf oil by securing these lanes.

According to the statement, the focus was on continuing the dialogue between Baghdad, Erbil and the oil companies operating in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq to ensure the resolution of disputes related to oil exports. The security situation in the region and the repercussions of the ongoing escalation and its impact on energy and oil sources were also discussed.

The two sides stressed the importance of continuing cooperation between the United States and Iraq to ensure that the country does not get dragged into any regional escalation, and to work to confront the economic challenges resulting from regional unrest.

For his part, Ambassador Bass welcomed Iraq's participation in the tenth ministerial meeting of the international coalition against ISIS, and the strengthening of efforts to combat terrorism. https://ninanews.com/Website/News/Details?key=1159487

Government Moves To Build 6 New Refineries

Thursday,03-10-2024,  Taisir Al-Asadi  The Parliamentary Oil and Energy Committee is working on reviewing and amending the Crude Oil Refining Investment Law of 1964 with the aim of enhancing investment in the oil refinery sector. While expressing its support for the government’s initiative to generalize electronic payment operations at fuel stations in the governorates, it revealed that there is a trend to establish six new refineries.

Sabah Sobhi, a member of the Oil and Energy Committee, told Al-Sabah that “the crude oil refining law is old and contains conditions that do not encourage investment, noting that amending it has become necessary to attract local and international investments, which can contribute to improving the quality of production and reducing environmental costs.”

Sobhi pointed out that "the amendments will provide a more attractive legal environment for companies wishing to enter this sector, which will reduce the financial burden on the government, which is working to develop the infrastructure, increase the production capacity of refineries, and reduce environmental damage resulting from the old technologies currently used."

In addition, the committee expressed its support for the government's initiative to generalize electronic payment operations at fuel stations in the governorates, indicating that this step is important in enhancing transparency and reducing traditional cash transactions and contributes to improving service and collecting money.

Sobhi said: "The use of electronic payment facilitates the process of obtaining fuel, and its generalization in the governorates will benefit the state by improving the mechanisms for recovering and collecting money in a better way than paper transactions that are subject to damage."

Sobhi explained that "this trend enjoys the full support of the committee, because it is in line with development and represents a qualitative shift in the fuel filling sector, which makes obtaining the service smoother and reduces the financial and administrative burdens on the state, in addition to contributing to reducing financial corruption resulting from traditional paper transactions.

In a related context, Sobhi explained that relying on oil alone creates great risks for the Iraqi economy, especially when sudden price drops occur, noting that the committee supports increasing non-oil revenues and addressing any emergency situation.

He stressed that "the committee is keen to keep subsidized gasoline prices as they are, despite government support."

In a related context, committee member Basem Naghamish explained to "Al-Sabah" that "Iraq is committed to the OPEC agreement on production levels and there is no intention to increase it at present to maintain price stability, noting that the Iraqi government announced plans to establish six new refineries, and some companies have begun purchasing private investment portfolios." https://non14.net/public/170726

Eagerly Waiting" OPEC Awaits Global Production Estimates To Confirm Iraq's Commitment

Economy   2024-10-03 | Alsumaria News – Economy   OPEC is eagerly awaiting the second week of October, awaiting the release of secondary sources' reports on member states' production estimates, in order to ensure the extent of OPEC's commitment to...Iraq With production compensation plans that were supposed to start last September.

During the meeting held yesterday, Wednesday, he stressed that Iraq Kazakhstan and Russia, achieving full compliance and compensation according to the timetables submitted for September, and the three countries renewed their strong commitment to maintaining full compliance and compensation throughout the remaining period of the agreement,

while the organization indicated that the final assessments of crude oil production levels in September are based on approved secondary sources that provide data on the production of the countries participating in the Declaration of Cooperation, which will be available by the second week of October 2024.

Iraq's production capacity is 4.6 million barrels per day, but according to the OPEC reduction agreement, its share has reachedIraq4.4 million barrels per day, but it made voluntary cuts in two stages that made its share only 4 million barrels per day, but it did not adhere to all of these stages, to present a compensation plan starting from September 2024 and ending in September 2025.

This compensation plan ensures that it reducesIraqIts production is between 90 and 120 thousand barrels per day, which means that the productionIraqStarting in September, it should be around 3.9 million barrels per day with only the Kurdistan Region producing.

While everyone is waiting for the secondary sources’ estimates to be released, the Bloomberg estimates that have already been released indicate thatIraqIt has reduced its production by 70,000 barrels per day, but it is still far from achieving the compensation plan, as well as the voluntary reduction plan in particular, as it produced 4.25 million barrels per day last September, which is about 10% more production than it is supposed to produce.IraqIn September, it was only 3.9 million barrels per day.

There were reports of "Saudi discontent" with the failure of some OPEC member states to adhere to production quotas, which could lead to Saudi Arabia and other major producing countries abandoning the agreement and increasing their production and flooding the market, which could lead to a major collapse in oil prices, or what is known as a "price war."  LINK