Jon

Merry Christmas to you and your family. It's been too long to worry about RV or even the impeachment. I just sit back and pray for peace in the Middle East and peace here in the U.S. We need to focus on healing our divisions, not the political bather from Washington DC. Merry Christmas to all my fellow dinarians. Let's make 2020 a banner year for the U.S. and as many people as we can influence.

Thanks for honoring our 9/11 victims and families, the first responders (both alive and those who sacrificed their lives) and the nearly 19 years of military service members, homeland security, intelligence community and others who have kept the battle mostly "over there." As a 5th generation veteran (and maybe 6th which we are still trying to verify that far back), it is a very personal thing every time we have a day to remember these sacrifices. RV would be nice but it's such a small thing in comparison. God bless all who serve and have served.

Here's a couple of ideas surrounding the Iraqi - Saudi relationship and Memorandums of Understanding (MOU). 1. MOU on mineral, gas and oil - Saudi could be looking to put a pipeline in to provide an outlet for Iraq's oil other than that little spit of land Iraq has next to Kuwait. If so, it counters Iranian ideas of using Iraq as a path to ship their oil out via Syria and the Med. Saudi also would get substantial revenue from a pipeline. 2. A Iraq - Saudi relationship also starts to surround Iran with a coalition on the west that counters Iranian expansionism. A sideline, it puts Iraq in a tacit relationship with Israel via the Saudis. They get to have some benefits without having to openly support Israel. Just thinking....

Hi Adam, I don't usually enter the fray to ask questions but I heard about something that makes me wonder... I heard that GOI has paid off back wages to its soldiers in dinar at a rate much higher than the official exchange, effectively doing an small internal test RV of the dinar. Have you run across anything on this? I still think that RV won't occur until Mosel gets retaken. Driving out ISIS is good for GOI PR and a stabilizing factor for the RV. Any thoughts?

I excerpted this from an email I received. These guys usually do a good job of their research. Iraq needs to have a stable Dinar to really benefit from this. Completing the RV would really help with making them acceptable on the world markets. I can see only good things coming out of what's happening with oil in Kurdistan (presuming they can see father than the end of their noses and stop the sectarian violence). ----------------------------------------------------------------- This Tiny Region of Iraq Is Offering Huge Energy Gains By Brian Weepie, researcher, S&A Resource Report Wednesday, May 28, 2014 One tiny region of Iraq is about to explode onto the world stage. Iraq is one of the largest oil regions on Earth. It is officially credited with about 115 billion barrels of proven oil reserves. It's the second-largest oil reserve in the world. But recent reports indicate another 45 billion to 100 billion barrels of oil could exist under Iraq's western and southern deserts. All told, Iraq could have more than 400 billion barrels of oil. The bulk of the country hasn't been explored with modern technology. But that's changing. In April 2009, a tiny, unknown, $86 million oil company drilled a well called the Shaikan-1 in the northern Iraq province of Kurdistan. It hit a giant oilfield. The well flowed 18,038 barrels of oil per day. The engineers believe that field holds more than 19 billion barrels of oil. The company's shares soared 2,200% over the next 18 months. The average production from four Shaikan wells is 10,000 barrels per day. It would take about 33 Eagle Ford Shale wells to equal the flow rate from a single Shaikan well. Remember, the Eagle Ford is a massive shale region rich in oil and gas in the U.S. That's the kind of opportunity that exists in Kurdistan today. Some of the largest oil discoveries of the last five years have come from the region that's just one-third the size of Texas. That's why major oil companies like Chevron, Total, ExxonMobil, and China's Sinopec are all there. Shaikan is one of the largest onshore discoveries in the last decade. However, it's far from unique. Exotically named oilfields like Kurdamir, Tawke, Taq Taq, Miran, Garmian, Chia Surkh, and Mirawa are all big new discoveries in Kurdistan. And like most investors, you've probably never heard of them. But that's about to change. Last week, Kurdistan shipped its first oil exports to Europe through a new pipeline that transports crude oil from Kurdistan to Turkey. On May 23, the Kurdistan Regional Government announced that a tanker loaded with over 1 million barrels of crude oil departed from the Turkish port of Ceyhan and headed toward Europe. The government says it will be the first of many sales of its exported oil through the newly constructed pipeline. The pipe will carry about 1 million barrels [of oil] per day by 2015. A second, parallel pipeline will push exports to 2 million barrels per day by 2019. Let me put that in perspective. By 2015, Kurdistan's oil exports will be equal to the oil production of Alaska, California, and Nevada combined. By 2019, its exports will be equal to 27% of U.S. daily production. Yes, you read that correctly. In about five years, this tiny segment of Iraq will send a volume of oil equal to 27% of the entire U.S. production down a pipeline to Turkey. That's not its entire production, either. That's just the export oil to Turkey. Kurdistan's huge oil-export growth potential is why some of the world's biggest oil companies are in the area. There are also risks. There has been an ongoing dispute between Iraq's central government (located in its capital city of Baghdad) and the autonomous Kurdish region over the latter's ability to sell oil. The Baghdad government is claiming sole authority over all Iraqi crude (it's afraid Kurdistan will keep all the money made from exporting oil for itself) and is declaring any independently sold oil as "smuggled." Baghdad has even stopped sending national budget funds to Kurdistan until a resolution is made. To date, the two sides haven't reached an agreement. But that hasn't stopped the Kurds from beginning to export their oil. And the exports will likely continue out of necessity. The Kurds need the oil to go to market… and they will get it there. But Baghdad isn't supplying the cash from the southern oilfields to support the government in the north. It's up to the Kurds to generate their own taxes… and it will come from oil production. That's why everyone I met in Kurdistan takes production for granted. It's going to happen… because it must happen. The Kurds are making it happen.