Iraq News Highlights and Points To Ponder Thursday Afternoon 8-15-24
Parliamentary Oil Committee Reveals Details Of Oil Smuggling From The Region To Iranian Ports
Energy Economy News – Baghdad The Parliamentary Oil and Gas Committee revealed, on Thursday, the details of oil smuggling from the Kurdistan Region to Iranian ports, explaining that this operation caused a crisis in the transfer of crude oil between Iraqi refineries.
The deputy head of the committee, Adnan al-Jaberi, said in a press interview, "We have seen a document issued by the State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) regarding the smuggling of oil from the Kurdistan Region to Iranian ports," noting that "this document states that oil is smuggled from Erbil and Sulaymaniyah via tankers through the Bashmakh and Pirouz Khan crossings."
Al-Jabri added, "The document revealed that the price of transporting one ton of crude oil to Iran is $135," noting that "this issue caused an internal crisis in the land transport of oil, considering that most of the tankers are private and have turned towards loading these smuggled materials, and there has been a defect in the transport of official oil, because SOMO pays $33 per official ton, while the cost of transporting smuggled oil reaches $135 per ton, and thus most of the tankers have turned to transporting smuggled oil."
Al-Jaberi continued, "This crisis has caused the accumulation of crude oil in a number of refineries, which has affected the quantity of petroleum derivatives in these refineries," noting that "the Parliamentary Oil and Gas Committee is following up on this issue with importance, and we will host general managers in this regard."
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As The Region Continues To Steal Oil...The Oil And Gas Law Is In The Parliament's Drawers
Economy As the region continues to steal oil...the oil and gas law is in the parliament's drawers[/size]
Information / Report.. The draft oil and gas law is one of the most controversial issues between the political blocs and the Kurdish national component.
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The Kurds continue to steal Iraqi oil and sell it on the black market for half its market value, which is a huge waste of the country's financial resources.
Independent politician Adnan Abdullah confirmed on Thursday that oil smuggled from the Kurdistan region is sold for less than half its value.
Abdullah told Al-Maalouma, "The region smuggles about 300,000 barrels per day, and this is no secret and the government and all political forces know about it."
He added, "The smuggled oil is sold for less than half its value, which is what drives some brokers in neighboring countries to deal with the smuggling file due to the large profits, noting that "mutual interests with some forces in Baghdad push for not opening this sensitive file."
He pointed out that "oil smuggling is illegal and represents a drain on the national wealth that everyone must preserve and its management must be federal."
It is noteworthy that oil smuggling operations from the Kurdistan Region have been ongoing for years by some of the ruling parties in the region.
Despite the government's moves to end the violations of the region's oil exports by passing the Oil and Gas Law, the obstacle of the Kurdish parties is what is pushing to suspend the law by objecting to the paragraphs and articles of the law that will end the region's violations in the operations of extracting and exporting oil through the Turkish port of Ceyhan.
The continuous objection and the placing of obstacles are due to preventing the approval of the law that may end the theft of contracts with foreign extraction companies in which the Barzani government is a major partner, in addition to ending the seizure of oil revenues and the positions they control as a result of exporting independently of the central government and the national SOMO company.
The Kurdish objection is centered on the paragraph of the control of the National Marketing Company (SOMO) over the operations of extracting, exporting and selling oil and gas.
Legal experts confirmed that all the articles that the Kurdish parties object to are not legal and constitutional, but rather in order to continue seizing the country's wealth.
The sources indicate that the Kurdish parties exploit the weakness of the governments in order to obtain high percentages of money and oil and gas revenues, and the approval of the law will end all these operations.
This is one of the reasons for not passing the oil and gas law from the House of Representatives, due to the major political differences that will keep the law in the drawers of the House of Representatives.
Member of the committee, MP Mohammed Anouz, ruled out today, Thursday, the ability of the political blocs to pass the oil and gas law and some other controversial laws.
Anouz told the / Al-Maalouma / agency, "The legal committee has a number of controversial laws that cannot be passed due to the political differences over them."
He added, "There are laws that cannot see the light during this session due to the deep differences, most notably the oil and gas law that has not been decided for four previous parliamentary sessions."
He confirmed that the law will be postponed to the next session in the hope that it will find consensus on it. LINK
Politician: Oil Smuggled From Kurdistan Region Is Sold For Less Than Half Its Value
Economy Information/Baghdad Independent politician Adnan Abdullah confirmed on Thursday that oil smuggled from the Kurdistan Region is sold for less than half its value.
Abdullah told Al-Maalouma, "The region smuggles about 300 thousand barrels per day, and this is no secret, and the government and all political forces know about it."
He added that "smuggled oil is sold for less than half its value, and this is what prompts some brokers in neighboring countries to deal with the smuggling file due to the large profits, noting that "mutual interests with some forces in Baghdad prompt not to open this sensitive file."
He pointed out that "oil smuggling is illegal and represents a drain on the national wealth, which must be preserved by everyone and managed by the federal government."
It is noteworthy that oil smuggling operations from the Kurdistan region have been ongoing for years by some of the ruling parties in the region. LINK
Parliamentary Legal Committee Rules Out Passing Oil And Gas Law
Economy Information / Baghdad.. Today, Thursday, the committee member, MP Mohammed Anouz, ruled out the ability of the political blocs to pass the oil and gas law and some other controversial laws.
Anouz told Al-Maalouma Agency, "The Legal Committee has a number of controversial laws that cannot be passed due to political differences over them."
He added, "There are laws that cannot see the light of day during this session due to deep differences, most notably the oil and gas law, which has not been decided for four previous parliamentary sessions."
He stressed that the law will be postponed to the next session, hoping that it will be agreed upon LINK
Parliamentary Finance Committee Discusses With Us Embassy The Financial And Banking System And The Lack Of Dollars In The Market
Local | 06:19 - 08/14/2024 Mawazine News – Baghdad The Parliamentary Finance Committee confirmed, on Tuesday, discussing the financial and banking system and the lack of the dollar in the Iraqi market with a delegation from the US Embassy in Baghdad.
A statement by the Parliament's media department received by Mawazine News stated that "the head of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Atwan Al-Atwani, received at the committee headquarters, in the presence of Representative Khalil Al-Dawski, today, Wednesday, a delegation from the US Embassy in Baghdad, Minister Counselor for Economic and Trade Affairs Julie Jules, Deputy Counselor for Economic and Trade Affairs Angel Fintling, Macroeconomic Officer, Economic and Financial Section Michael Pinnell, and Economic Assistant/Economic Section, to discuss the financial and banking system in the country, Ammar Al-Ammar."
The statement continued, "The meeting discussed the financial and economic situation in the country and the repercussions of the parallel market issue and its negative impact on the government economically, in addition to the lack of the dollar currency in the market, and the sanctions imposed on some banks, as well as the issue of the electronic platform for exporting the currency."
The head of the committee stressed "the importance of high coordination between the two sides in order to solve the pending financial problems, in addition to the importance of transparent dealing to benefit from the capabilities, and not resorting to dealing in another currency," noting "the need to create an atmosphere of understanding and invest in building bilateral relations on this basis."
Al-Atwani stressed "the committee's keenness to commit to combating financial corruption and confronting money laundering, as they are the basis for building societies, in addition to coordination in order to make correct decisions in this regard."
For her part, the Minister Advisor for Economic and Trade Affairs said that "there is a real opportunity for cooperation and reform of the economic and financial system between the two sides," stressing "working together to find appropriate solutions to all problems for the stability of Iraq as a basic ally of the United States."
The statement noted "providing clarification on the three-year general budget and plans for banking regulation and reform of the spending process, and how to finance projects, in addition to the importance of supporting the private sector and involving it with the public sector, which confirms the importance of investing the revenues achieved and the possibility of providing the service."
According to the statement, Al-Atwani pointed out the "ambition to legislate a law on partnership between the public and private sectors and involve the private sector in the market, in addition to working to amend the tax law and shift from the paper system to the electronic system."