Friday Afternoon Iraq Economic News Highlights 7-29-22

Friday Afternoon Iraq Economic News Highlights 7-29-22

Oil: There is an increasing demand by citizens to connect car gas systems

Local | 12:17 - 29/07/2022   Baghdad - Mawazine News, The Gas Filling Company of the Ministry of Oil confirmed today, Friday, that it recorded an increasing demand for car gas after the success of its systems, while it set the date for opening new outlets for filling in all governorates.

The director of the Baghdad Gas Filling Branch, Sinan Nabil Aref, told the official news agency, "Car gas systems have succeeded greatly, and there is an increasing demand by citizens to connect them," noting that "the gas system allows the vehicle to enjoy high efficiency because gas is purer than gasoline and is considered economical compared to its price." And its low consumption, as the price of a liter of it is 200 dinars.

He pointed out that "the Minister of Oil and the Gas Distribution Company are seeking to open outlets for filling gas for vehicles," noting that "the company will start opening those outlets successively, starting next month, to fill car gas in all governorates." Ended 29/N33    https://www.mawazin.net/Details.aspx?jimare=200836

Chinese Ambassador: Cooperation In The "Belt And Road" Has Achieved Fruitful Results

Posted On2022-07-29 By Sotaliraq    Baghdad: Omar Abdul Latif

The Chinese ambassador to Iraq, Cui Wei, described Iraqi companies as an "important partner" in the project to build the 1,000 schools, and that cooperation in building the "Belt and Road" is achieving fruitful results.

Wei said: "The Chinese side has full confidence and ability to complete the (1,000 schools) project alone, but it will not monopolize interests, but rather wants more local companies to participate in building the project, providing job opportunities for locals, and helping Iraqi companies enhance their capacity. , by sharing with it the benefits of cooperation,” expressing his wishes that “Iraq will continue to develop to become stronger, and thus (the cake of cooperation) between the two countries will be bigger and bigger.”

He added that "Iraq is one of the first Arab countries to establish diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China, and it is an important cooperation partner for China in the Middle East, since the establishment of the strategic partnership relations between the two countries in 2015, where mutual political trust has been constantly strengthened, and cooperation is achieved in building ( The Belt and Road) has produced fruitful results, and human and cultural exchanges are steadily deepening.”

He added that "Chinese companies actively participate in the reconstruction process in Iraq, and have made important contributions to advancing the economic and social development of Iraq," stressing "the Chinese side's keenness to work with the Iraqi side together, in order to further deepen the friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries, and help it to Improving people’s livelihood, re-industrialization, and moving forward with achieving economic transformation, in a way that pushes the strategic partnership relations between the two countries to achieve greater development.”

He stressed that "the Chinese side has always viewed the field of education as an important component of bilateral cooperation," expressing his wishes that "the (1000 schools) project, after its completion, provides broader educational horizons and a better environment for school-age children and youth, and helps in their formation and enabling them to contribute to achieving prosperity and development. Iraq".

Disclaimer: All published articles represent the opinion of its authors only     LINK

“Border Guards” Establish Military Points On The Borders With Iran And Turkey

Posted On2022-07-29 By Sotaliraq    The Iraqi border guards have established 6 permanent military points in the border areas with Turkey and Iran, where no forces have been deployed for 31 years.

A commander in the Iraqi border guards said, "The purpose of establishing these permanent military points is to monitor the borders, prevent illegal armed groups from infiltrating, reduce smuggling operations, and secure stability and security for the people of the region."      LINK

The commander of the 2nd Brigade of the Border Guard, Goran Saleh, said in a statement to Kurdistan 24 TV channel: "With our arrival to the border areas, we have established several roads with a length of 6-8 kilometers, to connect all the military points of the border guards with each other," adding, "After we established our points Military here, no one can cross the border illegally.”

Goran Salih added, "On the heights of Haj Omran, the military posts of the Iraqi border guards meet the Iranian border guards. These areas were not safe before, but now the borders are safe, in addition to providing security and peace for the people of the region from villagers, farmers and Bedouins, unlike the years previous.”

Fakhruddin Rasoul, a farmer from the region, told Kurdistan 24, "Now we are free. In the past, we were not able to approach the borders to plant our fields and graze our livestock, but now the area is stable and security is stable, and we are very happy."

Two months ago, border guards have been working to establish permanent military points, three of which are on the Iraqi-Iranian border in the town of Haj Omran, and the others are in the Barzan area on the Iraqi-Turkish border.   LINK

Gold Is Heading For The Best Week In 5 Months With The Weak Dollar

Shafaq News/ Gold prices rose on Friday, as the dollar and bond yields continued to decline in the wake of US economic data, making the yellow metal set for its best week in nearly five months.

By 0616 GMT, gold in spot transactions increased 0.6 percent to $1766.08 an ounce. It has risen about 2.3 percent since the start of the week, its best performance since early March.

US gold futures rose 0.7 percent to $1,780.70.

Geoffrey Haley, chief analyst at OANDA, said gold remains inversely correlated with the dollar and yields, and their recent declines gave it some support this week.

Despite the good weekly performance of gold, it is still on track to record the fourth consecutive monthly decline, which is the worst series of monthly losses since November 2020.

For most of July, the dollar hovered around 20-year highs, undermining demand for gold priced in US currency among holders of other currencies.

Also affecting gold prices, major central banks adopted a tough approach of raising interest rates and tightening monetary policy in their attempt to combat inflation, as well as the strong performance of US Treasury yields earlier in July.

Higher interest rates and bond yields increase the opportunity cost of holding gold. But US 10-year Treasury yields fell on Friday.

The US economy unexpectedly contracted in the second quarter, which raised the risks of an economic slowdown, contributing to a more than one percent jump in the price of safe-haven gold on Thursday.

As for other precious metals, silver increased in spot transactions by one percent to $ 20.18 an ounce, while platinum rose 1.5 percent to $ 901.08.

Palladium fell 1.5 percent to $2,046.16, but has risen by about 5.8 percent this month, its best performance since February.    Reuters    LINK

A Decrease In The Price Of The Dollar With The Closure Of The Baghdad Stock Exchange

Shafaq News/ The exchange rates of the dollar decreased against the Iraqi dinar, today, Thursday, with the closure of the main stock exchange in Baghdad.

Shafak News Agency correspondent said that the Al-Kifah and Al-Harithiya Central Stock Exchange closed in Baghdad at 148,450 Iraqi dinars, compared to 100 dollars.

While the prices this morning were 148,500 Iraqi dinars for $100.

Our correspondent indicated that the buying and selling prices in banking shops in the local markets in Baghdad stabilized, as the selling price amounted to 149,000 Iraqi dinars, while the purchase prices amounted to 148000 dinars per 100 dollars.    LINK

Oil Stabilizes With Tight Supplies And Eyes Turn To The OPEC + Meeting

Shafaq News/ Oil prices stabilized at a high level in Asian transactions on Friday, supported by supply concerns and with the focus shifting to the next meeting of the OPEC + bloc, although recession fears limited the gains.

By 0330 GMT, West Texas Intermediate crude futures for September delivery increased 38 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $ 96.80 a barrel, to offset losses incurred in the previous session, and is heading towards recording a weekly increase of about three percent.

Brent crude futures for September delivery, which expire on Friday, settled at $107.14 a barrel. Brent crude futures for October delivery jumped eight cents, or 0.1 percent, to $101.91 a barrel.

The next meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, or the grouping known as OPEC +, on August 3 will be an important factor in the market.

OPEC + sources said the cartel would consider keeping the production level unchanged for September, but two sources in the cartel told Reuters that a slight increase in production would be discussed.

The decision not to increase production will disappoint the United States after US President Joe Biden visited Saudi Arabia this month in the hope of reaching an agreement on oil production.

A senior US administration official said on Thursday that the government is optimistic about the OPEC + meeting, adding that increased production may contribute to stabilizing the market.  Reuters    LINK

Oil prices stabilize at $ 107 per barrel, and Brent crude at $ 101

Oil  prices   Oil prices settled at a high level in Asian transactions, at one hundred and seven dollars per barrel, and Brent crude futures jumped to one hundred and one dollar per barrel.

Experts in the field of oil and energy attributed the fluctuation of oil prices to the Russian-Ukrainian war, and the interruption of Russian gas supplies to Europe, while European countries are looking for new sources of energy before the coming winter, in an attempt to reduce the need for Russian gas.   LINK

Iraq Discovers New Oil Wells In Anbar

Energy    Baghdad  Ahmed Eid    29 July 20   The discoveries contain large quantities of oil, gas, phosphate and sulfur (AFP)

The local government in Anbar Governorate, in western Iraq,  announced the discovery of several new oil wells in separate areas of the province, which contain large quantities of oil, gas, phosphate, sulfur and other important minerals.

And in the middle of this week, Anbar Governor Ali Farhan al-Dulaimi announced that his governorate seeks to invest in natural resources to improve the economic and electricity reality, by investing gas and oil fields in coordination with the cadres of the Oil Exploration Company and the Seismic Survey Directorate of the ministry.

He confirmed the discovery of new oil wells and reservoirs in Tharthar and west of Ramadi, without revealing any other details related to the size of those discoveries or whether he would start extraction from them.

Al-Dulaimi added, in statements to reporters, that the engineering and technical efforts of the province began with actual steps to refer the fields to investment, indicating that the regions of western Iraq are characterized by the availability of minerals and phosphates.

He added that the Ministry of Oil needs to take steps to complete the new oil discoveries in Anbar Governorate, whose area constitutes 34% of Iraq's total area.   LINK