Iraqi News Highlights and Points to Ponder Thursday AM 12-14-23

Iraqi News Highlights and Points to Ponder Thursday AM 12-14-23

An Oil Expert Identifies The Reasons For The Decline In Basra Crude Prices: Everyone Is Ignorant Of The Mechanisms Of The Oil Market

Time: 12/14/2023 Read: 247 times  {Economic: Al-Furat News} Today, Thursday, oil expert Hamza Al-Jawahiri identified the reasons for the decline in Basra crude prices, pointing out that everyone is ignorant of the mechanisms of the oil market.

Al-Jawahri told {Al-Furat News} agency, "The decline in Basra crude prices is due to purely political reasons, through interventions from Western countries and pressure on certain oil-producing countries to silently flood the markets."

He continued: "It is not possible to know the amount or decrease in prices, and everyone is ignorant of the nature of the political agreement, and this is not one of the mechanisms of the oil market in terms of consumption."

He added, "The request for an increase is the one that has a political impact, whether it is an increase or something else, and no person can know about this matter."

This morning, the prices of Basra Heavy crude fell by $4.07 to reach $69.55, and the prices of Basra Medium crude fell by $4.07 to reach $72.10.   By Raghad Dahham   LINK

The Dollar Continues To Decline Against The Dinar In Baghdad And Erbil

2023-12-14 Shafaq News/ Dollar prices decreased today, Thursday, in Baghdad markets and in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region.

Shafaq News Agency correspondent said that dollar prices fell with the opening of the Al-Kifah and Al-Harithiya stock exchanges to record 156,200 dinars against 100 dollars, while yesterday, Wednesday, prices were 156,700 dinars against 100 dollars.

Our correspondent indicated that selling prices in banking shops in local markets in Baghdad decreased, as the selling price reached 157,250 Iraqi dinars, while the purchasing price reached 155,250 dinars for every 100 dollars.

As for Erbil, the dollar also recorded a decrease in banking shops, the selling price was 156,100 dinars against the dollar, and the purchasing price was 156,000 dinars against 100 dollars.  LINK

The Dollar Stabilizes At An Increase In Baghdad, And Money Exchangers Sell For More Than 155 Thousand Dinars

Economy |Baghdad today - Baghdad   Today, Thursday (December 14, 2023), the price of the dollar against the dinar recorded stability despite its rise in the local markets in the capital, Baghdad.

The "Baghdad Today" correspondent said that selling prices in money exchange shops in local markets in Baghdad amounted to 157,250 Iraqi dinars for every 100 US dollars.

He pointed out that the purchase price amounted to 155,250 Iraqi dinars for every 100 US dollars. LINK

Parliamentary Budget: 2024 Will Not Stop The Disbursement Of The Tripartite Budget

December 13, 2023  Baghdad/Al-Masala Al-Hadath: The Parliamentary Finance Committee confirmed that the entry into the new year 2024 will not stop the disbursement of funds from the tripartite budget, given that it was approved for three years.

The head of the committee, Atwan Al-Atwani, said that the committee approved a tripartite government budget and there is no interruption in spending and disbursement, given that the approved budget is for (3) years to ensure the continuation of spending and contracting and the continuity of the government’s work throughout its years without faltering, as happened in the past and led to the budget being delayed for more than 6 months.

He added that with regard to the 2024 budget, the committee is communicating with the government while awaiting its schedules, and it is possible to complete the issue as soon as possible with the aim of sending it to the House of Representatives for a vote.

On June 12, the House of Representatives voted on the draft general budget law for the fiscal years (2023, 2024, 2025), after deliberations that began last Thursday.

The value of the current year’s budget amounts to 197 trillion and 828 billion dinars (about 152.2 billion dollars), with a total deficit of 64.36 trillion dinars (49 billion dollars), while the budget items for the years 2023 and 2024 have not been published.

The current year's budget estimates the price of a barrel of oil at $70, with a daily export volume of 3.5 million barrels per day, including 400,000 barrels per day from the Kurdistan region of Iraq.

Iraq is the second largest producer of crude oil in OPEC after Saudi Arabia, with an average daily production of 4.6 million barrels under normal conditions. https://almasalah.com/archives/76102

Provoking Points to Ponder From a Sioux Indian Chief

Silence was meaningful with the Lakota, and his granting a space of silence before talking was done in the practice of true politeness and regardful of the rule that ‘thought comes before speech.’…and in the midst of sorrow, sickness, death or misfortune of any kind, and in the presence of the notable and great, silence was the mark of respect…

strict observance of this tenet of good behavior was the reason, no doubt, for his being given the false characterization by the white man of being a stoic. He has been judged to be dumb, stupid, indifferent, and unfeeling.

We did not think of the great open plains, the beautiful rolling hills, the winding streams with tangled growth, as ‘wild’.

Only to the white man was nature a ‘wilderness’ and only to him was it ‘infested’ with ‘wild’ animals and ‘savage’ people. To us it was tame. Earth was bountiful and we were surrounded with the blessings of the Great Mystery.

 Kinship with all creatures of the earth, sky and water was a real and active principle. In the animal and bird world there existed a brotherly feeling that kept the Lakota safe among them. And so close did some of the Lakotas come to their feathered and furred friends that in true brotherhood they spoke a common tongue.

This concept of life and its relations was humanizing and gave to the Lakota an abiding love.

It filled his being with the joy and mystery of living; it gave him reverence for all life; it made a place for all things in the scheme of existence with equal importance to all.

It was good for the skin to touch the earth, and the old people liked to remove their moccasins and walk with bare feet on the sacred earth… the old Indian still sits upon the earth instead of propping himself up and away from its life giving forces.

For him, to sit or lie upon the ground is to be able to think more deeply and to feel more keenly. He can see more clearly into the mysteries of life and come closer in kinship to other lives about him.

Continued …….. More to come in next news post