Iraq News Highlights and Points To Ponder Friday AM 8-16-24

Parliamentary Meeting Soon To Follow Up On The Increase In Oil Revenues

Money and business  Economy News – Baghdad    Member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee Mustafa Al-Karawi said, “The last meeting held by the Finance Committee aimed to follow up on the government’s measures to increase non-oil measures, considering that they are important in light of the continuous fluctuation in oil prices, and seeking to increase them is the best solution to achieve stability for the Iraqi economy and the possibility of implementing the budget that was voted on in the House of Representatives.”

Al-Karawi said, "The details of the revenues were discussed and periodic meetings will be held almost every month in order to follow up on the progress made in increasing non-oil revenues."

He added, "The most important risks that threaten the financial and economic situation in Iraq are that the budget depends by ninety percent or eighty-five percent on oil revenues, and thus the instability or decline of the oil price causes a problem in implementing the budget."

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Nineveh Oil Fields Plan To Raise Production To 50 Thousand Barrels Per Day

2024-08-16 04:42  Shafaq News/ A source in the Iraqi North Oil Company reported on Friday that there is a trend to increase production by 50 thousand barrels per day to cover the needs of Baiji refineries.

The source told Shafaq News Agency, "The Minister of Oil, Hayan Abdul Ghani, directed the North Oil Company to raise its production to the highest levels, as it is currently limited to 350 thousand barrels per day from Kirkuk oil fields, and this quantity does not meet the needs of the Baiji refineries, whose production capacity exceeds 350 thousand barrels per day."

He added, "The company has completed the work of replacing the crude oil pipelines from Batma station to Ain Zala station in the Nineveh Oil Fields Authority, with exceptional efforts to increase production, develop our oil fields, and facilitate the flow of crude oil within the operating stations."

The source confirmed that "the company's upcoming plan is to add 50,000 barrels per day from Nineveh fields."

A source in the company reported last Monday that technical and engineering crews had restored life to an oil well in the Batma field in Nineveh, noting that they were working to raise the field’s production to 10,000 barrels per day.

The source pointed out that "an engineering and technical team has begun preparing a plan to develop and raise the capacities of oil fields throughout Nineveh Governorate in order to increase production, support the national economy, and provide the state treasury with funds."

In this context, oil expert Ali Khalil explained to Shafaq News Agency, "The Ain Zalah field was discovered in Nineveh in 1939, and in 1953 the Batma oil field was discovered, and after 2003, exploration was carried out in a number of oil sites in Nineveh within the oil licensing rounds."

He added, "Four oil fields are being developed by the Federal Ministry of Oil: Sasan near Badush, Alan near Al-Ayadhiya west of Nineveh, Qasab, and Jawn south of Mosul. The fields currently being worked on are Qayyarah, Najma, Ain Zalah, Batma, and Wasifa."

He stressed that "Mosul's oil fields were discovered in December 1932 by Iraqi, Italian, British, German, French, Dutch and Swiss companies, and their investment was made by these companies in exchange for mortgaging the oil at a rate exceeding 50%. At that time, 71 wells were discovered, and only 27 of them were exploited, 10 of which were giant and produced oil at different levels."

The oil expert pointed out that "doubling interest in Nineveh fields could raise production to more than 500 thousand barrels for the North Oil Company, meaning that Nineveh fields have the capacity to produce 150 thousand barrels per day."  LINK

"Secret Procedures" And "Great Privileges"... What Is The Story Behind The Increase In Mps' Salaries In Iraq?

Money and business   Economy News – Baghdad  Over the past two days, the media and social networking sites have been buzzing with the story of the “secret procedures” that took place inside the Iraqi parliament in the session of last Wednesday, August 7, regarding adding “privileges and raising the salaries of members of the House of Representatives.”

The story was revealed by the Ishraqat Kanun bloc "partially", where it talked about the MPs not being informed of the tables that were intended to raise the MPs' salaries, and that this matter was confidential, while no information or clarifications were issued after that about the story.

According to following the context of the session and what was read during this session, the parliament presidency's presentation of this matter came in conjunction with "exploitation" of the first reading of the amendment to the House of Representatives Law, which was included for reading and amendment based on a decision by the Federal Court declaring the unconstitutionality of some phrases in Articles 48 and 50 related to the House of Representatives' appointment of advisors.

However, the parliament went further than that, amending several articles in the House of Representatives Law, including articles related to the privileges of MPs and adding personal guards for MPs, not just for the Speaker of Parliament and his two deputies, in addition to making these guards designated for the MP even after the end of his term and service in Parliament.

At the same time, and based on Article 64 of the House of Representatives Law, this article allows the Speaker of Parliament and his two deputies to issue instructions allocating their salaries and the salaries of the deputies and employees of the Council, meaning that they are not subject to a unified law, but rather instructions issued by the Speaker of Parliament and his two deputies to set the required figures for salaries.

In general, this amendment and move coincided with a response to a decision issued by the Federal Court separately from the decision of the unconstitutionality of Articles 48 and 50 of the House of Representatives Law, as the Federal Court issued a decision based on a lawsuit filed by one of the representatives, which led to reducing the salaries of the general managers in the House of Representatives in their capacity as employees, and their salaries were not reduced or the decision to reduce their salaries issued since 2017 in the Abadi government was not implemented.

Based on the decision of the Federal Supreme Court, the reduction even included the salaries of members of the House of Representatives who hold a preparatory certificate and a bachelor’s degree, while the salaries of those with a master’s degree remained stable or decreased slightly, with a slight increase in the salaries of those with a doctorate.

In general, the average salary of a representative decreased from 8 million and 200 thousand dinars to about 6 million dinars, which prompted the parliament presidency to implement paragraph 64 of the House of Representatives Law, which includes “issuing instructions on raising the salaries of representatives,” but no details were revealed about the size of the increase in these salaries and how much they will amount to, as the representatives have not yet seen any tables related to them.

Before the reduction, the salaries of the representatives ranged between 10 and 15 million dinars, but they currently range between 8 and 10 million, before the reduction to 6 million for the majority of the members of the council, meaning that there is a widening gap between the members of parliament so that the salaries may be between 6 and 10 million dinars.

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Al-Sudani announces readiness to launch the “largest” electricity production project in Iraq

Posted On2024-08-15 By Sotaliraq  Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani announced on Thursday that his government is ready to launch the “largest” electricity production in Iraq at a rate of 10,000 megawatts.

Al-Sudani said in a speech during the ceremony to launch the executive works of the projects of three power stations in Karbala Governorate, that this project is a strategic project in electrical energy, which will be implemented according to a new economic model and a new vision that will be announced to the private sector, after it has been studied by a team of consultants specializing in electricity.

He stressed that the stability of energy sources is an encouraging factor for investment and development, and pushes for the development of sources of income by activating all other economic sectors, in addition to the ongoing work to improve the transportation and distribution sector, to deliver electricity service in a sustainable manner to the citizen, without it being a burden on the state and its financial budget.

Al-Sudani also pointed out that the combined cycle projects and solar energy projects are part of the government's plans to reform the electricity system, indicating that the launch of the solar energy project in Karbala and Babylon will continue with the rest of the governorates, which is happening for the first time in Iraq.

He stressed the importance of supporting the private sector, which represents a support for the government in facing crises, emphasizing the special nature of Karbala Governorate, which is visited by millions of visitors throughout the year from inside and outside Iraq.

The three projects launched by Al-Sudani in Karbala are: the combined cycle of the Karbala gas station with a capacity of (132 megawatts), the Karbala investment solar energy station with a capacity of (300 megawatts), and the Karbala secondary transformer station, 400 KV, with a capacity of (1500 megawatts).

It is worth noting that the three station projects will achieve an increase in the production of electrical energy, as the combined cycle of the Karbala gas station contributes to adding (132) megawatts to the currently operating station, with a total design capacity of (250) megawatts, while the Karbala solar energy investment station project is one of several important contracts concluded by the government in the field of renewable energy projects with a number of specialized international companies, including signing a contract to implement a solar energy station with a private sector company with a capacity of (300) megawatts.

As for the Karbala Banks Secondary Station 400 KV, with a capacity of (1500) megawatts, it is being implemented within the second phase of the electrical energy transmission projects, under the contract with the German company Siemens, and is the first transformer station of its kind in Karbala, and will contribute to relieving bottlenecks in the network, thus raising the level of stability and meeting the needs of the various sectors in the Middle Euphrates region.  LINK