Tuesday AM Iraq Economic News Highlights 7-19-22

Iraq Is Moving To Prepare Special Documents For Joining The World Trade Organization

Today, Sunday, the International Trade Center clarified   the importance of Iraq's accession to the World Trade Organization, and while referring to the preparation of special documents on this, he stressed that Iraq is in the middle of the path to joining the World Organization.

The International Trade Coordinator at the Center, Israa Al-Jabari, told the Iraqi News Agency (INA), that "Iraq is in the stage of joining the World Trade Organization, as it submitted an application for accession from 2004 and was approved by the organization, and Iraq is currently an observer member of the organization."

She pointed out that "the organization is global and contains 168 countries and has agreements, laws and special conditions for accession," explaining that "any country that wishes to be a member of the organization must implement its laws, strategies and internal policies in accordance with the agreements of the World Trade Organization."

She pointed out that "the International Trade Center is working to help Iraq to provide technical and technical support in harmonizing laws and agreements with regard to its accession to world trade, and there are important documents that are being worked on."

She pointed out that "the main part of communicating with the organization in order to join is the Ministry of Commerce, which in turn presents the file, which includes all the relevant ministries in Iraq, in addition to the private sector," stressing that "striving to work on preparing special documents for accession in accordance with the agreements of the Trade Organization." ".

She added, "Iraq has industrial and agricultural qualifications and trade exchange, but it needs to work on studying and developing the applicable policies so that there is harmonization with the laws of the organization," noting that "Iraq is currently in the middle of the road to join."

She noted, "the importance of Iraq's accession to the organization, as it deserves to be part of the international trade, industrial and economic community, especially since its accession will be part of this international community and can organize its economic and commercial policies, including trade exchange in accordance with international laws that serve it with all concerned parties." dealing with it in the future. https://www.ina.iq/160973--.html

The Dollar Rises Against The Iraqi Dinar

Economie| 09:56 - 07/19/2022  Baghdad - Mawazine News, the dollar exchange rates rose, today, Tuesday, on the Iraqi Stock Exchange.

And the selling prices of the dollar were recorded at 148,500 dinars per 100 dollars, while the purchase prices of the dollar were recorded at 148,400 dinars per 100 dollars.

https://www.mawazin.net/Details.aspx?jimare=199771

Oil Prices Fall As Fears Of An Economic Recession Grow

Economie| 09:10 - 07/19/2022  Baghdad - Mawazine News:   Oil prices fell, on Tuesday, after they jumped more than five dollars a barrel in the previous session, with the decline in the dollar supporting the interest of buying, and thanks to expectations that the interest rate hike in the US Federal Reserve may be less than it was imagined, but the fear of Recession led to a decline in prices.

Brent crude futures for September settlement were down 44 cents at $105.83 a barrel by 04:46 GMT, and the contract rose 5.1 percent on Monday, the biggest percentage gain since April 12.

West Texas Intermediate crude futures for August delivery fell 43 cents to $102.17 a barrel. The contract rose 5.1 percent on Monday, the biggest percentage gain since May 11.

Both benchmarks posted a weekly decline of more than 5% last week.

Oil prices have fallen among supply concerns as Western sanctions over Russian crude and fuel supplies disrupt trade flows to refiners and end users and growing concerns that central bank efforts to tame rising inflation could lead to a recession that would reduce future demand for the fuel.

Two US Federal Reserve officials indicated last week that the central bank is likely to raise interest rates by only 75 basis points at its July 26-27 meeting.

The lesser rise may mean a decrease in the economic crisis that will reduce the demand for fuel. Ended 29 / AD 99    https://www.mawazin.net/Details.aspx?jimare=199764

Oil Prices Rise On Fears Of Tight Supplies And A Drop In The Dollar

Posted On2022-07-19 By Sotaliraq    Oil prices rise on fears of tight supplies and a drop in the dollar Oil prices rose slightly on Tuesday, recovering some of its losses earlier in the session, and after rising more than five dollars a barrel in the previous session, amid fears of tight supplies.

West Texas Intermediate crude futures for August delivery rose 36 cents to $102.96 a barrel. Crude jumped 5.1% on Monday, the biggest percentage increase since May 11.

The August contract for West Texas Intermediate crude expires on Wednesday, and the most-traded September futures contract recorded $99.74 a barrel, up 32 cents.

Oil prices were turbulent due to supply concerns after Western sanctions on Russian crude and fuel supplies led to disruption of commercial shipments to refineries and then to consumers, as well as increasing fears that the US Federal Reserve’s attempts to control inflation would lead to a recession that would reduce future demand for fuel.  LINK

The Federal Court Rejects The Lawsuit Against Sending Baghdad 200 Billion Dinars To The Kurdistan Region

Posted On2022-07-19 By Sotaliraq   On Monday, the Federal Court rejected the lawsuit against sending 200 billion dinars from the federal government to the Kurdistan Region.

The lawsuit, registered in the Federal Court against the Iraqi Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance, was demanding the suspension of sending part of the Kurdistan Region's budget, which amounts to about 200 billion dinars per month.

With this lawsuit rejected by the Federal Court, the federal government in Baghdad can continue to send this amount to the Kurdistan Region, to pay the salaries of the region's employees.

The Kurdistan Regional Council of Ministers had confirmed earlier that the federal government had not sent the region's monthly dues, amounting to 200 billion dinars, for a period of 14 months since 2020.

The total monthly salaries of Kurdistan Region employees require about 616 million dollars, and they are provided in general as follows: oil revenues of 350 million dollars, internal revenues of 128 million dollars, and funds sent by the federal government (200 billion dinars) of 138 million dollars, according to the Ministry of Finance and Economy. In the Kurdistan Regional Government  LINK

Kurdistan announces the volume of its oil exports and revenues for the first quarter of this year

Posted On2022-07-19 By Sotaliraq   Today, Monday, Deloitte International announced its report on auditing the sales and revenues of Kurdistan Region oil for the first quarter of this year.

According to data reported by Deloitte, total crude oil exports amounted to 36,453 thousand and 590 barrels for the period from January 1 to March 30 of this year.

The Department of Media and Information said in a statement that the report comes "as part of the independent audit process for the oil and gas sector, and as part of the transparency initiative included in the government's work program."

She added that Deloitte audited data released by the Kurdistan Regional Government on oil exports, consumption, expenditures and revenues. LINK

The Dispute Over The Oil File Fuels Relations Between Erbil And Baghdad

Posted On2022-07-19 By Sotaliraq   Baghdad (AFP)   Oil and its revenues have returned to a point of contention between the Iraqi federal government and the Kurdistan region, while these current tensions threaten Resulting from endless political skirmishes, weakening the desire of foreign investors to go to Iraq. Since the beginning of the year, strained relations between the autonomous Kurdistan region and Baghdad have manifested in the judiciary.

Erbil believes that the central government is seeking to seize control of the region's oil wealth, while Baghdad demands that It has its say in managing the oil resources that are extracted from   the Kurdistan region. Iraq is the second largest oil country in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), and it exports An average of 3.3 million barrels of crude oil per day.

As for Kurdistan, it produces more than 450 thousand barrels per day. It is impossible to understand this dispute between the two parties without returning to the political crisis that has paralyzed Iraq since the elections Legislature in October 2021. The political leaders in the region, as in Baghdad, are unable to agree on the name of a new prime minister and president of the republic.

Researcher Bilal Wahab of The Washington Institute for Near East Policy believes that “With regard to the oil file, Each side uses the carrot and stick method, and that depends on the prevailing political atmosphere.” .

When there was a political agreement, the courts remained silent," he says. And the opposite happened when the disagreements started.” In February, the Federal Supreme Court in Baghdad ordered the Kurdistan Region to hand over oil produced on its territory To the central government, granting Baghdad the right to review and cancel oil contracts with the region Federal that a law passed in Kurdistan in 2007 to regulate the oil and gas sector, is contrary to the constitution.

Since then, the Iraqi government has been trying to implement this decision. At the invitation of the Iraqi Oil Ministry, a court in Baghdad in early July canceled four Contracts between the Kurdistan region and Canadian, American, British and Norwegian companies. Other foreign companies, whose decision is expected to be decided by the same court, also warned a senior official in The oil sector in Baghdad in an interview with Agence France-Presse, preferring to remain anonymous.

The Economist in the Middle East Economic Survey ( MEESYasar al-Maliki, for his part, said that “when Baghdad expels foreign oil companies from Iraqi Kurdistan, This does not give Iraq the image of an important oil-producing country, which welcomes foreign investment.” The Kurdistan region opened the door to negotiations in order to preserve its independence in the field of oil.

He is working on the establishment of two companies concerned with oil exploration and marketing, working in partnership with Baghdad. Federal government according to a spokesman for the local government in Erbil.

However, in early June, the region initiated two moves in the judiciary, one of them targeting the Iraqi Oil Minister, Ihsan Ismail, Erbil accuses him of trying to "intimidate" foreign companies operating in Kurdistan, according to a statement.

Bilal Wahhab believes that the two sides do not realize to what extent they “damage the public reputation of the Iraqi energy sector.” He adds that “the questioning of the sanctity of contracts … adds legal risks to other risks.” Regulatory and governance-related problems that Iraq suffers from,” adding that the dispute between the two parties “repels foreign investments.” Iraq desperately needs it.”

In a victory for Baghdad , Schlumberger and Baker Hughes announced and Halliburton It will not submit «new projects in the Kurdistan region in compliance with the decision of the Federal Court». She added that "it is now in the process of liquidating and closing the existing tenders and contracts."

Relations between Baghdad and the Kurdistan region, which has been autonomous since 1991, are witnessing constant fluctuation.

Theoretically, the Kurdistan region was supposed to deliver 250,000 barrels of oil per day to be exported From Baghdad, in return for a share of the general budget paid as salaries to government employees and other expenses. But Erbil never delivered the oil, and payments from Baghdad were not regular

In recent weeks, missile attacks, not claimed by any party, targeted oil or gas sites in the region. Experts see this as an attempt to put more pressure on the Kurdistan Democratic Party, which is in power in the country Erbil, given that the dispute over the oil file is closely linked to the political crisis.

The Kurdistan Democratic Party, which is allied with the influential Shiite cleric in Iraq Muqtada al-Sadr, seeks to He gets the post of the presidency, which is usually held by his political opponents from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan.

Yasar al-Maliki explains that “the sequence of events shows that this crisis began when the Kurdistan Democratic Party approached From the Sadrist movement, confronting the coordination framework backed by Iran,” referring to an alliance that brings together several parties Shiite parties.

But "Iraq is a country based on compromises," according to al-Maliki.

In order to end the oil dispute with Erbil, al-Maliki believes that the best solution is a “political agreement.” Baghdad guarantees the adoption of a "flexible" law regulating the management of the oil file.

The expert adds that “pending this, the decision of the Federal Supreme Court will remain a sword of peace for Kurdistan.” LINK