Search the Community

The Iraqi Oil Minister discloses directions to give the private sector a greater role in the economy Iraqi Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul Jabbar Ismail 06 September 2020 06:37 PM Mubasher: The Iraqi Business Council in the Jordanian capital, Amman, organized yesterday evening, Saturday, an economic meeting, through the application of "Zoom", in which Iraqi Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul Jabbar Ismail spoke about projects and investment opportunities available in his country in the oil and gas sector. Minister Ismail stressed that Iraq deserves to have its expatriate children participate in its economic development process, transfer their experiences and expertise, and participate in investment projects that it intends to implement in the coming years, according to Jordan News Agency "Petra". He pointed out that the Iraqi economy has witnessed strong shocks in the past period due to the decline in oil prices, which reached 10 dollars per barrel, OPEC determinants, the Corona pandemic crisis, as well as the global economic downturn. He pointed out that this led to the inability of the government to fulfill its financial obligations, especially in terms of paying salaries, explaining that the price of oil has started to recover and is sold today at about $ 45 a barrel, expecting exports to return to 3 million barrels per day in the coming months, and that the price per barrel will reach $ 50. . He explained that the Iraqi Oil Ministry has large contracts with many international companies, but it does not constitute economic integration with these companies, despite their usefulness to the national economy. Minister Ismail indicated that the most important economic power is currently suspended, which is the private sector, due to the lack of a legal framework to involve them in the economic construction of the country, pointing out that there are directives from the current government to open up to the business community. He pointed out that the Ministry of Oil has many activities that the Iraqi private sector can participate in, especially that marketing operations are secured, pointing out that there are discussions with business owners regarding the establishment of a refinery project in Al-Zubair in Basra. He pointed out that there is an initial understanding with the Italian company "ENI", which today operates the Zubair field, which currently produces 500 thousand barrels per day and will reach about 700 thousand barrels in 2027. The Minister of Oil indicated that there are understandings to establish a refinery in Al-Zubair to produce 300 thousand barrels in its final stage and 150 thousand barrels at the beginning of the project, which has an investment volume of 4 billion dollars over a period of four years. He stressed that ENI will lead the work as if it is one of its projects as it is a partner working on behalf of the Iraqi state in managing assets and machines in the Zubair field, pointing out that the project will be fully owned by the government. Minister Ismail also referred to the "Nebras" project for the purposes of manufacturing petrochemicals at a cost of $ 8.5 billion, which Iraq has been discussing for ten years with an international company, calling on Iraqi business owners and investors to participate in it, especially that the current government wants to implement it and make it successful so that Iraq can become a producer of petrochemicals. Iraqis abroad In turn, the head of the Iraqi Business Council in Amman, Dr. Majid Al-Saadi, indicated that the money of Iraqis abroad, which is estimated at 300 billion dollars, is a strong opportunity to attract them to return to the country, provided that the investment obstacles are removed and the challenges facing business owners. Al-Saadi stressed, during the meeting moderated by the Vice President and Secretary of the Council Saad Naji, that large foreign companies will not enter Iraq unless they see Iraqi business owners invest in the country as they want a local partner to work with him, local labor and logistical facilities to provide sustainability and success for their business. He pointed out that Iraqi business owners are looking forward to the new Iraqi government headed by Mustafa Al-Kazemi to provide an attractive investment climate to attract Iraqi investors from abroad, noting that there are 3700 member companies of the Council interested in investing in Iraq in various fields, especially in the refinery and gas sector. And he indicated that the members of the Council are business owners who have investments in Jordan estimated at about $ 20 billion distributed across many economic sectors, noting that the private sector is a key partner in building Iraq's future and helping it out of its economic crises. Dr. Al-Saadi emphasized that the Iraqi Business Council, which was established in 2006, supports all investments in Iraq, whether in oil, electricity, transportation, health, and all economic fields.

Parliamentary oil plans to investigate irregularities and complaints on «Sumo» energy Economy News _ Baghdad The Oil and Energy Committee announced on Wednesday its intention to investigate irregularities and complaints against the oil marketing company "Sumo", demanding the cancellation of the decision to re-director to work as an adviser in the Ministry of Oil. "A serious precedent occurred in the Ministry of Oil did not occur in the history of previous governments is the issuance of ministerial order No. (44574 in 2018/11/6) to bring back Falah Jassem al-Amiri, the director of the company Somo previously to work as a consultant to the Minister after he was referred to retire at his request and desire on 2017/12/12 and the issuance of the retirement order No. 623 in 2018/1/7. She added that "the retirement decision has been canceled and returned to work on the basis of the Secretary General of the Council of Ministers and the approval of the former Prime Minister 3441 in 2018/10/15 and considering the period from his retirement to the date of his return and the approach of ten months of regular leave violate all administrative and legal orders "He said. "What is the benefit or the public interest in returning the person mentioned to work?" She asked. "We can not imagine that his competence is unique and there is no one in the ministry who has the expertise and competence." And demanded the Minister of Oil to "suspend the decision to return him to work on the basis of Resolution No. 8 issued by the current Council of Representatives in its 14th session, which includes the suspension of the work of the decisions issued since (1102018 to 24102018) issued by the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers, 12/11 to suspend the decisions and directives of the Council of Ministers and the former Prime Minister for the above period. She added: She pointed out that "the lack of interest of the company above during the period of Falah al-Amiri litigation brought by the courts and arbitral tribunals, which led to the loss of millions of dollars, and we will investigate all the irregularities and complaints against marketing company Sumo." Views 31 Date Added 12/12/2018