International competition to operate the large Al-Faw port... Transport: We will choose the best
Chinese, Singaporean, and Emirati companies are competing to operate the Al-Faw Grand Port, while the Ministry of Transport will announce during the coming period the company that will become a partner in managing and operating the port.
Director of the Ministry's Media Office, Maitham Al-Safi, said: The Ministry is seeking to contract with international companies specialized in the fields of port management and operation to be accredited as a partner in the management and operation of the Grand Faw Port, as it has received several offers in this regard, and it will announce the name of the operating partner during the next short period.
He added, "The most prominent contenders for managing and operating the port are Chinese, Singaporean, and Emirati companies that have great experience as they manage the most important major ports on the continent of Asia," indicating that "the committees concerned with preparing the requirements for operating the port are working to expedite the preparation of what is required of the companies submitting operating offers through the application." The vision of the government and the Ministry of Transport in establishing strategic projects, the most important of which is this project and making it a global transit station.
Al-Safi noted “the necessity for the company that will be selected to prepare the necessary plans to manage and operate the port based on studying the regional and international maritime transport market and marketing studies and their impact on the optimal choice of management and operation method.”
He explained, "Giving opportunities to invest in Al-Faw Port projects to giant companies that operate within international standards is the most important challenge for the Ministry during the first phase of operating the project, especially as it is prepared to receive reputable international companies that intend to invest in their projects according to future plans and visions that they have set in advance."
He pointed out that “the Ports Administration is working as one team with the Ministry of Transport to achieve the highest levels in implementing port projects that have reached advanced completion rates, whether in the work of the five berths or the highway linking the port and the submerged tunnel in the city of Umm Qasr, or in the container handling station, or in the canal.” Navigationa llink
Article: "Al-Shammari reveals the most prominent files of Sudanese’s visit to Washington and the government’s ambition regarding the dollar" Quote: "Al-Sudani's visit to Washington will be practical and will not be for taking pictures...The Iraqi delegation will ask the American side about the reasons for their decisions to impose sanctions on Iraqi banks... Our expectations are that the visit will be very successful..."
Clare
Article "Statement from Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on the Visit of Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’a Al-Sudani of Iraq to the White House" Quote "On April 15, President Joe Biden will welcome Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’a Al-Sudani of Iraq to the White House
to coordinate on common priorities and reinforce the strong bilateral partnership between the United States and Iraq."
Article: "Al-Sudani intends to visit Washington to lift the ban on banks prohibited from dealing in dollars"
Quote: "The head of the Iraqi Securities Commission, Faisal Al-Haimas, announced that three Iraqi banks were sanctioned by the US Treasury, and 25 banks were banned from dealing in dollars ; ."
Article: "The Central Bank announces an understanding with the US Treasury to reconsider sanctions and indicates 'illegal trade' "
Al-Sudani receives an invitation from the Saudi Crown Prince to participate in the World Economic Forum
Media Office of the Prime Minister: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman referred in his message to the Prime Minister to the close relations linking the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with Iraq and that his participation will have a good impact on the success of the meeting’s work.
Today, Monday, Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammad Shia al-Sudani received an official invitation from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to participate in the special meeting of the World Economic Forum, which the Kingdom will host at the end of next April.
This was mentioned in a statement issued by Al-Sudani’s office and received by Shafaq News Agency.
The statement conveyed that Bin Salman, in a letter he sent to Al-Sudani, referred to the close relations between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Iraq, and that his participation will have a good impact on the success of the meeting’s work.
According to the statement, the special meeting of the World Economic Forum will be held in Riyadh for the period from April 28-29, and will address a number of international topics and issues, and discuss international cooperation in the fields of economics and sustainable development. link
[via PDK] Question: Since Sudani has to go to US on April 15th does that mean nothing will happen on the RV until then or after? MarkZ: Many believe he could be coming to the US after the RV for his “victory lap”.
[via PDK] I am getting back and forth news from groups. Some say it’s happening now and some say May…. They are really bouncing back and forth.
COMMENT: Sudani is supposed to be in the US on April 15th.
MARKZ: Personally I think Sudani may be here for a “victory lap” after we have already started doing out exchange.
Question: Do we have the green light yet Mark? MarkZ: I think we have the green light. I am looking forward to what the next few days bring.
Bank story: One of our members had a friend go to a bank in N. Carolina yesterday. They had a conversation with a branch manager. They talked about an hour on life, currencies, expectations etc.
The Bank manager said they are absolutely prepared for this. He said he knew a lot of banks were avoiding it but they were preparing for it. He said “We don’t know the timing but it could be at any moment” So they were having a very long conversation with a banker that was clued in, plugged in and prepared..
America is confused about the fields shared between Iraq and Iran... huge, uncontrollable oil flows
March 28, 2024
Baghdad/Al-Masala Al-Hadath: Economist Simon Watkins said in a report published by the American Oil Price website that many unofficial flows emerged from increases in the oil fields shared between Iran and Iraq, so that it makes sense for the two countries to work to raise these increases significantly.
There are many fields shared between the two countries, the most prominent of which are Azadegan (on the Iranian side) / Majnoon (on the Iraqi side), Azar (Iran) / Badra (Iraq), Yadavoran (Iran) / Sinbad (Iraq), and Naft Shahr (Iran) / Naft Khana. (Iraq), Dehlran (Iran)/Abu Ghurab (Iraq), Baydar Gharb (Iran)/Fakka Field (Iraq), and Arvand (Iran)/South Abu Ghurab (Iraq).The new development initiative between Iran and Iraq will include assigning local companies, most of which are linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard or factions allied with Iran in Iraq, and their mission is to increase the return on oil extraction from the smaller joint fields, while Russian and Chinese companies will take the lead in the larger fields.
The idea of limiting local companies to smaller fields is to allow them to develop their oil extraction techniques (with help from Russia and China) so that they can guarantee the average recovery rates of 3.5 percent they have achieved at their designated sites.
A well-known Western oil company laid out plans before sanctions were reimposed on Iran in 2018. It aimed to increase recovery rates in a group of these smaller fields to more than 12.5 percent within 12 months of starting them (from the then average of 2.5 percent). 20 percent after a year, then to about 50 percent within three years.
The Iranian Ministry of Oil hoped that increasing the technical capabilities of local companies would enable them to increasingly participate in the development of larger fields, enabling Tehran to reduce the discount on oil sold to China as part of comprehensive field development packages signed with its companies.
This includes larger fields as well, where the financial potential for even relatively small increases in the rate of oil extraction is enormous.
The combined oil-rich fields in the West Karun region, which includes the North Azadegan, South Azadegan, North Yaran, South Yaran and South Yadavaran fields, for example, contain at least 67 billion barrels of oil and enjoy an average recovery rate that currently stands at only 5 percent.
This is compared to the average recovery rate across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which is at least 50 percent.
An Iranian source told Oil Price: “The recoverable reserves figure increases by 670 million barrels, or about $34 billion in revenue for every 1 percent increase in the average recovery rate across West Karon, even if we were only going to sell at $50 a barrel.”
“Raising the recovery rate to 25 percent across West Karun over a 20-year contract period, thanks to sound joint development, is expected to add $838 billion in revenue to Iran.”
He stressed that the average West Karon oil production today is about 360,000 barrels per day, and sometimes reaches 380,000 barrels per day, while it did not exceed 120,000 barrels per day during 2017.
The main part of the “Comprehensive Cooperation Agreement between Iran and China for 25 years” was for Chinese companies to raise collective production from the West Karun fields by no less than 500 thousand barrels per day.
This is not difficult, as the average lifting cost remains between one and two dollars per barrel of crude oil in Iran itself and in Saudi Arabia and Iraq. But Chinese companies have not yet achieved any meaningful increases, which may be another reason for Iran and Iraq's desire to increase their capabilities to exploit their vast oil resources.
The fields shared between Iran and Iraq have also been invaluable to Tehran's successful efforts to avoid oil sanctions from the United States or Europe for years. Oil is often being explored on the non-sanctioned Iraqi side of the border across the border from the same oil reservoirs as oil exploration continues on the sanctioned Iranian side. This sometimes happens even through extended drilling.
Even if the Americans, Europeans, or any of their most trusted appointees put people at every platform across every common field in Iraq, they would not be able to know whether the oil extracted is from the Iraqi side or from the Iranian side.
Thanks to sound joint development, raising the recovery rate to 25 percent across West Karun over a 20-year contract period is expected to add $838 billion in revenue to Iran.
This made it possible for Iranian oil to be exported to Iraq and shipped to anywhere in the world it was needed for decades.
Further layers of complexity were added to further obscure the true origin of the exported oil. Simple but effective methods include turning off the transponder used by the ship's automatic identification systems, making it difficult to track. link