Iraq Extends Curfew to 11th April

[Pitcher]

https://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2020/03/27/iraq-extends-curfew-to-11th-april/
 

Iraq Extends Curfew to 11th April

 

The Cabinet held its regular weekly meeting in Baghdad on Thursday under the chairmanship of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Oil, Thamir Ghadhban.

It reviewed the impact of restrictions to contain covid-19, including curfews, on the health, financial and service sectors, and discussed measures to lessen the burden on Iraqis, receiving briefings from the Minister of Health, Dr. Jaafar Allawi and senior officials on current measures to contain the spread of the epidemic in Iraq.

The Cabinet urged all citizens to abide by curfew regulations and follow the advice of health professionals, including practicing social distancing and avoiding gathering for their own safety and that of all Iraqis.

The Cabinet discussed measures to ensure food security, continuation of essential services, transport of agricultural produce between provinces and requests from a number of Iraqi citizens abroad who wish to return home but are unable to do so because of current restrictions on air travel in several countries.

The Cabinet thanked the Crisis Cell for its role in mobilising national efforts to contain Covid-19, and expressed its gratitude to Iraqi health teams, security forces, volunteers and community leaders for their hard work and dedication at this difficult time.

The Cabinet decided to:

• Extend the curfew to 11 April 2020 in all regions of Iraq, and for current exemptions to be maintained;
• Direct all ministries, public bodies and local authorities to use their financial and other resources such as vehicles and equipment to support the Crisis Cell and the Ministry of Health
• Authorise the Minister of Health to allow some health professionals who have reached retirement age to continue in their posts for the duration of the crisis.

 

[Pitcher]

Read entire article ar link below. My apologies but this website will not allow me to copy their articles. 

 

https://www.arabnews.com/node/1648621/middle-east
 

In Iraq, deadly coronavirus terrifies even doctors hardened by conflict

 

An Iraqi soldier checks the temperature of an officer in Baghdad during a curfew imposed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease.

[Pitcher]

https://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2020/03/27/iraqs-power-conundrum-how-to-secure-reliable-electricity/
 

Iraq's Power Conundrum: How to Secure Reliable Electricity

Editor

 

By Ahmed Tabaqchali, CIO of Asia Frontier Capital (AFC) Iraq Fund. This article was originally published by the LSE Middle East Centre.

Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News.

Iraq's Power Conundrum: How to Secure Reliable Electricity While Achieving Energy Independence

Iraq remains in a bind regarding how to secure energy independence within its geopolitical constraints - most pertinently the American sanctions on Iran. The US is continuing to maintain pressure on Baghdad by extending 'final' waivers on the purchase of Iranian gas for only another 30 days, as part of its new tougherstance.

Iraq, in response, could produce credible plans to eliminate its dependence on Iranian imports, which it accelerated with the approval in January of the fifth round of gas exploration contracts. However, achieving this would not end the need for Iranian imports, nor would it secure any kind of energy independence. More importantly, it will not change the shortages in the provision of electricity, which have served as a lightning rod for public anger over the failings of the post-2003 system.

Appreciating the dependence on Iran for the provision of electricity means delving into the extraordinary mess that is Iraq's power grid, consisting of the power plants that generate electricity; transmission system that transport this electricity to population centres; and distribution networks which then distribute this electricity to end users. Decades of conflict have damaged most parts of the grid and, coupled with poor maintenance of the parts that escaped damage, this has rendered the grid impotent.

Rebuilding the grid post-2003 was hampered by the rolling dysfunction of successive governments, in which significant capital expenditures were neutralised by mismanagement, lack of coordination between ministries, and the county's corrosive corruption. The public's frustration over this impotence extends beyond the inadequate provisioning of electricity throughout the year, as the summer's intense heat creates a particularly acute need for electricity, exposing the grid's shortcomings.

These start at the generating stage with the gap between nameplate capacity, i.e. the maximum sustainable power output under ideal conditions, and actual output. While a gap always exists between these two, in 2018 the nameplate capacity was 30.3 gigawatts (GW), while effective capacity through the year was a mere 11.9 GW. A primary reason for this gap is the lack of appropriate fuel supply, in this case gas, which leads to substitutions by fuels such as crude or heavy fuel oil with the result that plants run at less than 60% of capacity - in 2018 only 62% of operating gas-powered plants actually used gas. Other reasons include poor maintenance and lack of cooling in high ambient heat. Moreover, up to 20% nameplate capacity in 2018 was non-operational.

In turn, this increases the gap between demand and supply - in 2018 average demand was 17.7 GW vs. effective generated power of 11.9 GW. But this gap is only part of the story, as the electricity generated to meet demand does not mean that it was actually delivered to end users. The total electricity generated in 2018 was 105.4 terawatt-hours (TWh), but only 43.7 TWh reached end users for a loss of 58.5%. Most of these losses take place at the distribution stage, with technical losses stemming from age, conflict damage, poor maintenance accounting for two thirds, and non-technical losses, mostly electricity theft, accounting for a third. Technical losses are natural, however they occur at an extremely high rate in Iraq, as do non-technical losses. Stolen electricity - still consumed but not billed - is estimated at 17 TWh, and so the electricity delivered would rise to 61 TWh, equating to a loss of 42.2%. This dynamic can be seen below.

Figure 1: Comparison between electricity demand and supply, 2010-18

The increase in losses from 2014 onwards can be attributed to the ISIS conflict, which damaged 20% of the transmission system and 5.0 GW of generating capacity. 2019 saw meaningful improvement as effective capacity increased from 11.9 GW to 14.3 GW, and crucially during the summer months peak generation was 19.3 GW vs. peak demand of 27.5 GW. This gap of 8.2 GW has narrowed from 2018's 10.0 GW gap when peak supply was 16.5 GW vs. peak demand of 26.5 GW.

Electricity generated from Iranian electricity and gas imports accounted for 20.7% of that generated throughout 2019, and probably a much higher percentage during the peak summer months. These contributions from electricity imports from 2010 and gas imports from 2017 can be seen below.

Figure 2: Iranian contribution to Iraq's energy requirements between 2010-19

The importance of Iranian electricity imports as a percentage of the total have steadily decreased, even though they increased in absolute levels; nevertheless, the decline in summer of 2018 was large enough to ignite the demonstrations in Basra. Imports in 2019 returned to the trend line and averaged 1.1 GW for the year. Plans for other regional imports include 0.5 GW to be imported from Kuwait by the end of 2020, rising to 1.9 GW over subsequent years, including planned imports from Jordan and Turkey.

Iranian gas imports were 7.0 billion cubic meters (BCM)in 2019, up from 4.1 BCM in 2018, and accounted for 31% of total gas consumed - up from 24% in 2018. Plans for increased domestic production include increasing captured flared gas to 16-19 BCM by end of 2021 from 12 BCM in 2019. Additionally, the fifth round of gas contracts call for replacing Iranian imports in three years, i.e. generating 7.0-10.0 BCM over that period from the current 3.5 BCM.

Assuming that the government executes these plans, in three years' time this would replace the current electricity produced by Iranian imports. But demand is set to increase by 20% from current levels, meaning that the current the gap between supply and demand would increase by up to 20%. Moreover, planned capacity additions require additional fuel, which under existing plans is earmarked to replace imported gas. However, maintaining Iranian imports would significantly decrease their importance in power generation from the current 20.7%, and in the process Iraq would add meaningful capacity to address demand.

The goal posts are moving much faster than Iraq's ability to approach them, and as such the US's insistence on eliminating Iranian imports, far from achieving energy independence for Iraq, would instead exacerbate its energy vulnerabilities. Compounding these vulnerabilities is the massive investment spending needed to expand the grid's capacity, currently unaddressed in the government's structurally unbalanced budget, but which is ever more critical following the collapse of oil prices.

Iraq's pathway out of this predicament, even at much higher oil prices, involves electricity tariff reform and the removal of energy subsidies, both the source of monumental waste and substantial market distortions. However, this requires a popular buy-in and for the increasingly alienated population to renew their belief in the post-2003 system's legitimacy. It is here where the international community can help Iraq achieve energy independence.

 

[Pitcher]

https://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2020/03/27/us-provides-aid-to-help-iraq-fight-coronavirus/
 

US provides Aid to help Iraq fight Coronavirus

Editor

 

By Bryant Harris for Al Monitor. Any opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News.

US provides Aid to help Iraq fight Coronavirus

The US Embassy in Baghdad announced today that is providing $670,000 to help Iraq fight the novel coronavirus pandemic.

"Today's announcement shows the strength of the US and Iraqi partnership, and we are committed to fighting this pandemic alongside the Iraqi people," said US Ambassador to Iraq Matthew Tueller. "support provided through the [World Health Organization] will directly enhance the country's ability to combat the spread of COVID-19."

Click here to read the full article.

[Pitcher]

https://www.iraq-businessnews.com/2020/03/26/sectarianization-in-the-struggle-for-iraqs-political-field/
 

Sectarianization in the Struggle for Iraq's Political Field

 

 

By Toby Dodge and Renad Mansour, for the Institute for Global Engagement. Any opinions expressed are those of the author(s), and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News.

Sectarianization And De-Sectarianization In The Struggle For Iraq's Political Field

Iraq's political system, an elite pact justified through ethno-religious consociationalism or sectarian apportionment (Muhasasa Ta'ifiyya), was created in the aftermath of invasion and regime change in 2003.

The system's legitimation was based on a very specific understanding of Iraqi society and the role of elections in managing that society. However, this system did not prevent the
brutal civil war that raged in Iraq from 2004 until 2008.

Once the civil war ended and communally justified violence declined, other negative consequences of the system became increasingly apparent, namely the widespread and systematically sanctioned political corruption at its core and the institutional incoherence the system created.

A sustained post-civil war challenge to the system has come through a series of mass demonstrations, starting in 2009, but reaching their peak, in terms of size and ideational coherence, in 2019.

In the face of its unpopularity, the majority of Iraq's politicians may have moved away from the overt promotion of sectarianism, but the political system still functions, as it has since 2003, with systemic corruption and coercion taking the place of sectarian ideology in terms of delivering elite cohesion and defending the status quo.

Click here to read the full report.

 

[DoD]

Just reading where the ISX will resume trading on 4/12 an find it interesting that the curfew will last until 4/11. I’m thinking if the auctions remained stopped until after 4/12 we could really be onto something...

[Laid Back]

1 hour ago, DoD said:

Just reading where the ISX will resume trading on 4/12 an find it interesting that the curfew will last until 4/11. I’m thinking if the auctions remained stopped until after 4/12 we could really be onto something...

Also President Trump said he want to get US Up and running by April 12th.
 

We could be really onto something 

 

Stay healthy my friend.

 

Go RV

Go asap

[keylime]

April 18th was my dream.  Less than a month away.