Wednesday AM Iraq Economic News Highlights 9-21-22

Oil Prices Rise After OPEC Fails To Achieve Production Target

Economie| 09:10 - 09/21/2022   Follow-up - Mawazine News:   Oil prices rose slightly, on Wednesday, after OPEC failed to achieve the production target, offset by fears of raising interest rates from the US Federal Reserve, which could lead to a recession.

Brent crude futures rose 14 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $90.76 a barrel by 04:40 GMT, after falling $1.38 the previous day.  US West Texas Intermediate crude was at $84.00 a barrel, up 6 cents.

On the supply side, the OPEC+ group of producers - the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its partners including Russia - has fallen to a record 3.58 million barrels per day below its targets, or about 3.5% of global demand. market, even with recession fears driving prices lower.

The head of Saudi state oil giant Aramco said on Tuesday that Europe's plans to end consumer energy bills and tax energy companies are not long-term or beneficial solutions to the global energy crisis, driven in large part by a lack of investment in hydrocarbons.

Conversely, the Federal Reserve is widely expected to raise interest rates by 75 basis points for the third time in a row later on Wednesday as it seeks to rein in inflation. These expectations weigh on stocks, which often move in tandem with oil prices.

Higher interest rates supported the dollar, which approached a two-decade high on Tuesday, making oil more expensive for holders of other currencies.   https://www.mawazin.net/Details.aspx?jimare=206053

The Dollar Stabilizes In The Iraqi Market

Economie| 09:44 - 09/21/2022   Baghdad - Mawazine News, the dollar exchange rates stabilized today, Wednesday, on the Iraqi Stock Exchange.  And the selling prices of the dollar were recorded at 147.700 dinars per 100 dollars, while the purchase prices of the dollar were recorded at 147.600 dinars per 100 dollars.   https://www.mawazin.net/Details.aspx?jimare=206056

Gold Prices In The Local Markets

Economie| 10:36 - 09/21/2022   Baghdad - Mawazine News: Gold prices rose, today, Wednesday, in the local markets.  The price of a 21-carat gold weight, the most traded one, reached 342,970 dinars, excluding goldsmiths' fees.   As for the price of a gold weight of 24 karat, it amounted to 391 thousand and 960 dinars, excluding the fees of the craftsman.    https://www.mawazin.net/Details.aspx?jimare=206060

Oil Announces The Issuance Of Decisions Supporting Projects To Use Liquid Gas For Vehicles

Economie| 06:13 - 09/20/2022   Baghdad - Mawazine News, today, Tuesday, the Ministry of Oil issued decisions that support projects for the use of liquid gas for vehicles.

The Undersecretary for Liquidation and Distribution Affairs, Hamid Younis, stressed during the opening of a model workshop to install the liquid gas system for all types of vehicles in the Taji area, north of Baghdad, according to a statement received / Mawazine News / a copy of it, on the "importance of expanding the transformation projects to the use of liquid gas for vehicles of all kinds, and the importance of that. economic, technological and environmental aspects.

He added, "The workshop project comes within the plans of the Ministry and the Gas Filling and Services Company to keep pace with the steady increase in the demand of citizens in Baghdad and the provinces to use liquid gas fuel instead of gasoline and kerosene, for its economic and environmental benefits, because the octane degree of liquid gas is (120), while the octane degree For super gasoline (95)".

Younis pointed out, "The shift towards the use of liquid gas for vehicles is one of the strategic projects to promote sustainable development and support the national economy, and is supported by the government and the ministry. A number of decisions and instructions have been issued that support projects for the use of liquid gas for vehicles."

For his part, General Manager of the Gas Filling Company, Anmar Ali Hussein, said, "The opening of this workshop comes within the framework of expanding and providing installation services for the system for vehicles, and that the company operates according to an axis related to increasing the number of installation outlets for this system for vehicles, while the other axis is related to providing workshops for maintenance and rehabilitation services. For vehicles. With a port for filling and supplying vehicles with liquid gas.

Hussein added that the area of ​​this workshop is (850) square meters, and includes integrated devices and equipment designed for this purpose, as well as devices and equipment for the rehabilitation and maintenance of vehicles and from solid international platforms.   https://www.mawazin.net/Details.aspx?jimare=206008

Parliamentary Finance Forms An Investigative Committee Regarding Contracts In Violation Of The Law

Political | 02:06 - 09/21/2022   Baghdad - Mawazine News   The Parliamentary Finance Committee announced, today, Wednesday, that it hosted the representative of the Ministry of Higher Education and a number of university presidents to discuss the file of contracts and wages, while it decided to form an investigative committee regarding contracts in violation of the law.

The committee said in a statement that Mawazine News received a copy of it, that "the committee headed by the head of the age, MP Mahasin Hamdoun, hosted today the representative of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, the Director General of Administration and Finance, Asaad Ghani Jihad, and the presidents of the universities of Diyala, Kirkuk, and Samarra, in the presence of its members and a number of Members of the other committees," indicating that "the hosting aims to discuss the financial allocations to these universities and to discuss the contract file in accordance with Resolution 337."

The statement added that "the committee discussed with university presidents how to monitor financial allocations to treat contract holders after 2/10/2019, according to Resolution 337 and transfer them to Resolution 315, as well as discussing the interpretation of the Ministry of Finance's book No. 26377 for the year 2022 directed to issue a book to stop the contract termination until Issuing orders from the Council of Ministers and responding to the committee’s letter with the final decision.

He continued, "The delegation explained the mechanism for dealing with the file based on the letter of the Ministry of Finance, especially in light of their inability to apply for appointments due to the intersection of the job number," explaining that "a part of them from the holders of higher degrees were re-contracted at the expense of the Ministry of Higher Education Fund, while The President of the University of Kirkuk confirmed that the termination of the contract came at the request of the contractors.

The committee stated in the statement that it "discussed finding appropriate solutions to transfer contracts within Resolution 315, as they provide service to their departments and do not bear the mistakes of the departments, especially that the Emergency Support Law for Food Security and Development ensures the provision of financial allocations for contracts, wages and lecturers," wondering about "the reasons for terminating the contract with 1000 contracts from Tikrit University.

The committee decided to form an investigative committee on the issue of contracts in violation of the law and to refer the file to the Integrity Commission for investigation and take the necessary measures. It also decided to summon the investigative committee formed in an official letter to find out the real reasons behind the termination of the contract.    https://www.mawazin.net/Details.aspx?jimare=206085

The Former Head Of "SOMO": Iraq Will Continue To Import Gas, And We Need A Specialized Ministry To Produce Renewable Energy

Energy   Economy News-Baghdad  The oil expert, the former head of the Oil Marketing Company (SOMO), and the oil expert, Falah Al-Amiri, suggested that Iraq will continue to import gas and oil products for the coming years, indicating that renewable energy needs a specialized ministry in this field

Al-Amiri told Al-Iqtisad News that "Iraq has three types of oils, namely Basra, heavy and light, and Kirkuk oil, and these oils are exported to three Asian and European markets and the American market," noting that "about 75 of Iraqi oil is exported to the Asian market due to the difference in prices and growth. The Rising Economy of India and China ".

He added, "Iraq would have been able to produce 8 million barrels per day now, had it not been for the Iraqi-Iranian war," noting that "Iraq's oil reserves are concentrated in central Iraq, and very few of them are located in the border areas, and the quantities of crude in it range from one billion to one and a half billion barrels ."

He added, "Agreeing to sell Iraqi oil to companies is the exclusive authority of the Minister of Oil, not SOMO," noting that "all the money from the sale of oil goes to the US Reserve Bank since 1996, and the government demanded after 2003 that this mechanism remain to preserve funds from the risks of lawsuits." .

He explained that "the Kirkuk-Ceyhan export line accommodates more than one million barrels per day, while it is planned to accommodate one million and 600 thousand barrels per day, and it is suspended from 2014 until now, due to the security situation," noting that "Iraq now exports Kirkuk oil through Kurdish pipelines. And then to Cihan ."

He pointed out that "Iraq's imports of oil products will continue for the next few years, even with the construction of new refineries, as a result of the continuous increase in the population and thus a continuous increase in the demand for energy ."

With regard to the investment of gas for the production of electricity, Al-Amiri explained that "most of the Iraqi gas is associated with the extraction of oil and was burned by 100% before 2003 and now the percentage has decreased to 57%, but this percentage is not useful in the production of electric power in Iraq ."

Regarding renewable energy, the oil expert said that "renewable energy in Iraq needs a specialized ministry to solve problems in the provinces and provide infrastructure and technology, but this industry is promising in Iraq because there are large desert areas similar to Egypt and Morocco."

Views 75   Added 09/21/2022 - 12:01 PM   Update 09/21/2022 - 2:44 PM

https://economy-news.net/content.php?id=29816

Experts: The Electricity System Suffers From A Shortfall Of 10,000 Megawatts

Posted On2022-09-21 By Sotaliraq   Baghdad/Bright news    Energy experts spoke of a shortfall in the electricity file estimated at 10,000 megawatts, noting that there are major problems related to production, distribution and transmission.

Energy expert Zaki Ali said in an interview with Al-Mada that "the problem of electricity in Iraq is divided into two parts: the first part relates to who takes over the Ministry of Electricity, and the second part relates to the solutions that should be developed for these problems."

Ali added, "The one who receives the Ministry of Electricity must have basic conditions, the first of which is from a strong political bloc that supports him in the absolute exercise of his ministerial duties."

He pointed out, "This bloc is supposed to have a real will to solve the electricity problem," stressing the need for "the minister to have a good negotiating ability because the energy file is regional and is in the backbone of the Iraqi economy, as he has experience and sold in the energy market and its problems."

And Ali stated, "The energy problems in Iraq are divided into six types, namely production, transmission, distribution, collection, administrative structure and the citizen."

He explained, "For every problem, a solution should be developed in order to remedy the crisis and treat it," stressing that "the production is still insufficient, as it currently ranges from 21 thousand megawatts to 24 thousand megawatts."

Ali believes, "Iraq needs 32 thousand megawatts, meaning that there is a deficit rate of about 10 thousand megawatts, and this requires immediate and future solutions with plans to maximize the energy produced in Iraq."

He added, "The ministry relies on one central network in transportation, and therefore we need to develop it according to the development of the electrical system."

Ali talked about “a deep and big problem in the distribution, as all countries calculate electricity on the basis of the population,” noting that “the production may be sufficient compared to the percentages approved in the rest of the countries, but the imbalance is in the distribution.”

Ali pointed out that “the Ministry of Electricity, according to its statements, cannot collect more than 28 percent of state institutions and citizens, and this means that 72 percent of the collection is suspended and its resources do not reach the state.”

And he added, "The administrative structure of the ministry must move from the principle of bad service to the principle of selling excellent service at the same cost, and this needs an agile cadre to shift from the principle of providing service to supervising it."

Ali concluded, “The citizen also participates in this crisis as he is an employee in the Ministry of Electricity, a consumer of energy, a collector or evasion of collection, and he must raise his national commitment to be part of the electricity file assistance.”

For his part, the other expert, Bilal Khalifa, revealed, "the annual demand for electrical energy has increased by 1,000 to 1,500 megawatts, in addition to the difference between generation and consumption."

He believed, "The best solution to confront the electrical crisis is to pay attention to collection and use (smart meter)."

Khalifa added, however, by saying that the ministry has adopted this step in two ways, the first is to establish campaigns to set standards, but it is still below the required level due to the lack of cooperation of citizens.

He added, "The second way is to privatize the collection," noting that "the areas that have undergone this experiment have reduced their burdens to one third."

Khalifa went on to say, "If this project had been implemented in all parts of Iraq, we would have obtained the full sufficiency of generation in consumption, and this point has also failed due to the citizen's refusal to deal with the authorities in charge of collection."

A member of the Parliamentary Oil and Energy Committee inside Radi said, in statements to the official news agency, that “the issue of electricity unfortunately has become another headline of internal disputes and rivalries between the ministries of oil and electricity, and whenever the Ministry of Electricity wants to complete a file, another ministry stands in its way.”

Rady added, "This is part of the problem that hinders the construction of stations and the increasing random growth of investment, official and agricultural housing units, and this in turn creates problems in transportation and distribution, in addition to the presence of stations that have expired."

He pointed out, "there are plans by the ministry to increase production by installing new generating stations, maintaining discontinued units, relying on solar energy, and trying to find ways to rationalize."

Radi pointed out that "the winter of Iraq has become no different from its summer in terms of loads and the steady increase on a daily basis."

He continued, "The Energy Committee will put pressure on the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Oil and coordinate with the Ministry of Electricity to find immediate solutions and not to repeat what happened in terms of increasing loads and stopping."

Radi continued by saying, "The committee will also ask the Presidency of the House of Representatives to provide the ministry's needs in support to enable it to continue and sustain production and improve the transmission and distribution networks, which are also suffering from problems."

Earlier this week, the Ministry of Electricity revealed achieving the highest production rates since its establishment, and talked about more than 24 thousand megawatts, and expected to add 1,000 new megawatts soon.   LINK