Tuesday Morning Iraq Economy News Highlights 5-24-22
Tuesday Morning Iraq Economy News Highlights 5-24-22
Western Countries Are Moving To Obtain Their Oil Needs From Iraq
Posted On2022-05-24 By Sotaliraq Translation: Hamed Ahmed A Greek report stated that Iraq can meet the requirements of Western countries for oil, while noting that European oil refineries began to look towards Basra crude instead of what they were receiving from Russia.
A report by the Greek newspaper (Shangning News), translated by (Al-Mada), stated that "the West is looking at all possible ways to enhance its supply of oil, and perhaps Iraq can play a major role in achieving this goal."
And the report continued, that this comes “with Russian oil now heading mainly towards the east,” noting that “OPEC Plus member countries are competing to achieve the upper limit of their oil production quota,” stressing that “there is one country that can do this, It is Iraq.
He pointed out, "The Gibson Shipping Corporation stated that in April, Iraq managed to achieve a production ceiling of 4.43 million barrels per day, an increase of 282,000 barrels compared to the month of March before it, an increase of 6.8%."
The report promised, "an increase of 16 thousand barrels per day from Iraq's production share, the continuation of the growth of oil production for the country, which is the second largest oil producer in OPEC."
He explained, "Iraq is allowed, according to the OPEC Plus agreement, to raise its production to 4.5 million barrels per day as of June, and that it has ambitions to increase its export rates a lot during this year."
And the report indicated, "The demand for Iraqi crude oil is also witnessing a shift, with European oil refineries increasingly looking towards Basra Light and Heavy crude as alternatives to the supplies that were coming from the Russian Ural Mountains."
And he added, "India, the largest consumer of Iraqi crude oil, has turned into one of the largest importers of Russian crude oil, over the past two and a half months."
The report indicated that "Iraqi exports may witness a further transformation if heavy crude from Iran and Venezuela are allowed to return to the market this year."
The report stated, "The Gibson Corporation confirmed that the International Energy Agency's information shows that Iraqi oil production has been witnessing a continuous increase since July 2021, at a time when the OPEC Plus group agreed to lift restrictions on production ceilings for all members."
He pointed out, "The total crude production is still below the January 2020 rates by 2%, at a time when Covid-19 restrictions have reduced the demand for oil."
The report considered, "This rise in production may be an indication that the Iraqi oil industry sector is in a good position to take advantage of this opportunity from expectations of improved demand for oil."
And he added, "The Iraqi Oil Ministry had also announced its plans to raise its total production of crude oil to 6 million barrels per day by the end of 2027."
And he noted, "This will require raising production by 1.57 million barrels per day from the production rates of April 2022."
And he added, "Taking into account that this date is 6 years away, it will require the addition of another 314,000 barrels per day production every year until 2027, which is considered the current production trend."
The report continued, "Another important factor related to achieving this goal is the country's export infrastructure," stressing that "the main Basra loading berth has been witnessing for some time the development of its export capacity."
He went on to say, "Adding another 250 thousand barrels per day will raise the operational capacity of the loading dock to 3.5 million barrels per day."
The report pointed out that "facilitating any future increase in oil production and exports, it will be very important to enhance the export capacity of Iraq's southern ports, which will require additional investments."
He stressed, "The other option will be to strengthen the Kirkuk-Ceyhan oil export line towards the Mediterranean."
]And the report talked about “another aspect that can be taken into consideration, is whether India’s large purchases of Russia’s oil through the Urals will have a noticeable impact on its requests for Iraqi oil grades.”
And he added, "The situation is still unstable regarding how oil shipments will be in the global market after the Russian invasion of Ukraine."
He called for "the search for alternative supply sources of oil for the countries that depended on Russian oil through the Urals."
And the report went on, that "while Iraqi information indicates positive expectations for production, there is still a need to ensure national stability in the country to make these plans a reality." About: Shipping News LINK
Parliamentary Meeting To Discuss The Food Security Law Before Referring It To The Second Reading
Policy 2022-05-24 | 06:04 Parliamentary meeting to discuss the Food Security Law before referring it to the second reading LINK
The Iraqi Parliament Is Discussing The Payment Of 1.6 Billion Dollars For Iranian Gas
Posted On2022-05-23 By Sotaliraq Today, Monday, the Parliamentary Energy Committee revealed the intention of the House of Representatives to host Electricity Minister Adel Karim and discuss how to pay Iran’s gas debts, which amounted to about one billion dollars.
The Iranian government says that the debts owed by Baghdad amounted to 1.6 billion US dollars in return for pumping Iranian gas to Iraq.
The deputy head of the Parliamentary Energy Committee, inside Radi, said that his committee will hold a meeting this week to set a date to host the Minister of Electricity, Adel Karim, to discuss the ministry's procedures and preparations for the summer season.
After setting the date for hosting the minister, Radi added that the committee will submit a request to the Presidency of the House of Representatives for hosting, explaining that hosting the minister will be in the Energy Committee and includes the Minister of Electricity and the advanced staff in the ministry.
Radi indicated that the Minister of Electricity, during his visit to Tehran, agreed with the Iranian side to settle the debt repayment, and this will be resolved in two ways, the first by allocating funds to the Ministry in the Food Security Law, and the other by borrowing from the Ministry of Finance.
And he indicated that the Iranian side requests Iraq more than one billion dollars for the gas supplied to operate the power stations, with the result that the ministry needs the funds to carry out maintenance of the stations, electrical wires, secondary parts and transfer stations.
Iraq, which depends on Iranian gas to produce electricity, has suffered from a chronic electricity shortage crisis for decades as a result of the siege and successive wars.
For many years, residents have protested against frequent power cuts, especially in the summer, when temperatures sometimes reach 50 degrees Celsius. LINK
An Economist Indicates A Great Danger To Desertification And Sends An Important Message
Posted On2022-05-24 By Sotaliraq Today, Monday, economic expert Safwan Qusay stressed the importance of federal ministries taking measures that allow reducing the effects of desertification.
Qusai said in an interview that “ Iraq is at the heart of climatic changes, and this problem has made these changes negatively affect the Iraqi lands and atmosphere, as 50% of the areas in the land are desert and this percentage may increase,” noting that “we need quick treatments through re-establishing Restructuring the concerned federal ministries to work in this atmosphere and take care of the Iraqi family so that it can face this atmosphere.”
He added, "The federal ministries are required to take measures that allow reducing the effects of desertification, as it is a strategic issue and not only immediate, given that it is exacerbated with the progression of time in the event of neglecting this file and not taking treatments for it," noting that " Iraq is annually exposed to billions of losses as a result of changes . The climate, and therefore we have to reorganize the movement of internal waters and the process of integration between economic sectors in order to continue life in its natural form.” LINK
Basra Crude Rises And Records More Than 103 Dollars
Tuesday, May 24-2022, PM 12:44 KARAR AL ASADI Today, Tuesday, the price of Basra Heavy crude rose by nearly two dollars, to record more than 103 dollars per barrel.
Basra Heavy crude, exported to Asia, rose $1.89, a change rate of 1.87%, to reach $103.19 per barrel.
All OPEC crude prices also rose, as Iran's heavy mix recorded $108.82, an increase of $0.81, while the UAE's Murban crude recorded $111.83, an increase of $1.35, while Saudi Arabian crude recorded $111.46 a barrel, an increase of $2.04, and Algeria's Sahran blend reached $116.91, an increase of $1.35. 0.93 dollars, Nigerian Boni crude amounted to 118.00 dollars, an increase of 1.30 dollars, while the Angolan Girassol crude reached 113.26 dollars, an increase of 0.55 dollars.
Oil prices rose on Monday, before declining this morning, after expectations of a slowdown in global economic growth. http://non14.net/public/147506
Ports Of Iraq: Receive 12 Oil Tankers At The Specialized Port Of Khor Al Zubair.
Tuesday, May 24-2022, AM 11:12 TAYSEER AL-ASSADI The Ministry of Transport represented by the General Company for Ports of Iraq received today (12) oil tankers docked in the specialized port of Khor Al Zubair.
The company's general manager, Dr. Eng. Farhan Al-Fartousi, said, "The specialized port of Khor Al-Zubair is working on importing and exporting oil derivatives in cooperation with government agencies, in addition to commercial activity in other berths.
He added, "The port received today (12) oil tankers distributed on its berths with various loads, including gas oil, gasoline, fuel oil, naphthah and VIankot. http://non14.net/public/147503
Official Statistics: More Than 2,280 Hotels In Iraq And Erbil Are The First To Have "Five-Star" Hotels.
Shafaq News/ The Central Statistics Agency of the Ministry of Planning announced, on Tuesday, the increase in the number of hotels in Iraq during 2019 to reach more than 2,280 hotels, indicating that Erbil ranked first in the number of five-star hotels.
In a statistical report seen by Shafak News Agency, the agency stated that "the number of hotels and tourist accommodation complexes in all governorates, including Kurdistan Region, amounted to 2,282 tourist facilities for the year 2019, an increase of 37% compared to 2018, in which the tourist complexes reached 1,666."
He added, "Karbala governorate ranked first in the number of hotels with a percentage of 29%, followed by Erbil, the capital of Kurdistan Region with 20.9%, followed by the capital Baghdad with 16.3%, then Sulaymaniyah by 12%, followed by Najaf governorate by 10.9%."
He added, "Excellent five-star hotels accounted for only 1.6 percent, concentrated in Erbil Governorate with 11 hotels, followed by Sulaymaniyah with 9 hotels, Baghdad with 7 hotels and Dohuk with 4 hotels."
He continued, "The first-class four-star hotels accounted for 5.5% of the tourism complexes, while the second-class three-star hotels accounted for 17.9%, while the third-class two-star category accounted for 19.8%, while the fourth-class one-star hotels accounted for 24 percent. As for the fifth-class (popular) hotels, they constituted 31.2% of the total number of hotels.
He pointed out that "the number of hotel and tourist accommodation guests reached 13,992 guests, an increase of 129.5% over 2018," noting that "Baghdad ranked first in the number of guests with a rate of 32.2%, followed by Karbala by 30.9%, followed by Erbil by 14.1% followed by Sulaymaniyah with 10.4%, and Najaf with 8.5%.
Iraq is considered one of the poor countries in the number of hotels, especially five-star hotels, compared to neighboring countries due to the lack of tourists, which has been closely linked to the unstable security situation during the past years. LINK