New Rumaila contract includes substantive changes: Turkish villages smuggle IS oil through makeshift pipelines

Erdogan @CFR_org "If Iraq is divided, that would lead to a collapse of everything in Iraq." | So why all the separate Turkey-KRG oil deals?

#US President #Obama on new steps to discourage companies from moving their tax residence overseas: pic.twitter.com/zcFyDUkZ0u New Rumaila contract includes substantive changes Officials from the Iraqi government and BP sign a newly amended contract for the development of the Rumaila oil field on Sept. 4, 2014. From left to right: Falah al-Amri, the director general of SOMO; Marc Hornbrook, the General Manager of the Rumaila project for BP; Dhia Jaffar, the director general of SOC; Thamer Ghadhban, advisor to the prime minister; and Bob Dudley, the CEO of BP. (ALI ABU IRAQ/Iraq Oil Report/Metrography) By Ali Abu Iraq, Ben Lando and Staff of Iraq Oil Report Published Saturday, September 6th, 2014 Iraq has renegotiated a lower production target for Rumaila, its most prolific oil field – part of a broader effort to moderate the country's oil ambitions, keeping them in line with expected market demands and domestic infrastructure constraints.The amendments to the Rumaila contract go beyond lowering the production plateau target and extending the life of the deal. Most importantly, BP and CNPC now hold a larger stake in the project, and they have added a contractual provision that prot... Abdulrahman Hamdi ‏@havall73 · 1h If #Kurdistan is going to control it's own #oil revenue, then why they would take the ministry of finance? Michael Knights ‏@Mikeknightsiraq · 1h .@havall73 Kurds need Min of Finance as KRG oil export revenues will not equal Baghdad's transfers for years, so revenue-sharing is critical @Mikeknightsiraq revenue sharing is a constitutional obligation, Kurdistan should get its share whether the minster was a Kurd or not. Kirk H. Sowell ‏@UticensisRisk · 28m It appears Iraq may have a new govt today. Parl't expected to meet in about 30mins. Will discuss budget first. Kurds demanding all budget payments within 1 week! http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-29119258 The Kurdish bloc said its participation was conditional on all outstanding issues between Baghdad and Kurdistan being resolved within three months, and on the government paying Kurdistan's budget allocation, which has been withheld for more than nine months, within one week. - I suspect with Shahristani out of oil/energy ministry influence for the first time in 8 years, we will see more focus on Kurd oil including M&A activity as indicated below............. Genel gains on M&A hopes for Iraqi oil Financial Times A resurgence of takeovers among oil explorers could make Iraq the industry’s next hotspot, according to an analysis by Morgan Stanley. Big oil’s appetite for exploration M&A tends to recover about a year after the sector starts generating excess cash, it added. The market has anticipated a continued recovery in free cash flow among the majors, which have been preaching austerity but still rely on acquisitions to add reserves, it said. “As organic free cash flow improves, we think big oil asset sales will slow, tightening the market and lifting upstream valuations,” the broker told clients. Its hope of an M&A boom led Morgan Stanley to “go overweight Kurdistan”, Iraq’s autonomous northern region. It had an £11.70 price target on Genel , which rose 1.6 per cent to 866p after the company said security on the ground had improved enough for staffing levels to return to normal. ============================= A number of leaders of political blocs seek to dissuade al-Shahristani from withdrawal from the new government 09/09/2014 20:41:00 BAGHDAD / Nina / A close source to the head of the / independent / bloc, Hussein al-Shahristani revealed that a number of leaders of political blocs tried to dissuade al-Shahristani's decision to withdraw from the new government. The source told the National Iraqi News Agency / NINA / that "The Ministry of Foreign Affair means nothing to al-Shahristani, and his observations on a number of ministers is behind his withdrawal from the new government." He added that "al-Shahristani is not interested in positions as much interest in the need to provide necessary reform process that the government seeks to reach. And the rumors in some media about the withdrawal of al-Shahristani, and his bloc from the new government because the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was not assigned to him is not right and mixing the leaves. " The source explained that " Shahristani and independent bloc's objection on a number of candidates for the ministries because of suspicions was the main reason for the withdrawal of the bloc from the government.". He said, "Shahristani nomination to the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, is," the right person in the right place " as al-Shahristani has an scientific and academic experienced.". He pointed out: "A number of leaders of blocs contacted him trying to dissuade him from the withdrawal decision" expressed hope that "these attempts come with positive results," without mentioning who are the leaders of the blocs. The block / independent / headed by Hussein al-Shahristani announced yesterday not to attend the evening session of the House of Representatives allocated for the vote on the government of Prime Minister-designate Haider al-Abadi, because of the choice of ministers incompetent and the adoption of sectarian quotas in the selection of ministers and not taking the opinion of the religious authority, which recommended selecting ministers incompetent and owners of disciplines , according to the opinion of the block. / end =============== Turkish villages smuggle IS oil through makeshift pipelines HACIPASA, Turkey — For some time now, Turkey has been accused of either supporting or tolerating the activities of the Islamic State group (IS). Turkey’s hesitation to contribute to the coalition Washington is trying put together has only intensified the accusations. Since Turkey opened its borders without restriction to those fighting against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, others have been exploiting the lax border control. More than facilitating the crossings of militants, the security loophole has also contributed to substantial financial resources for the armed groups dominating the liberated areas of Aleppo, Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor. The group profiting the most has been IS, which has been transporting to Turkey the oil it's extracting with primitive methods in its occupied areas. Summary⎙ Print In the village of Hacipasa, almost every house is connected to an illegal oil pipeline smuggling IS oil into Turkey. Author Fehim Taştekin Posted September 15, 2014 Translator(s)Timur Goksel In the Hacipasa village of Altinozu in Hatay province, the scope of this oil smuggling mechanism is clear. On the Turkish side of the Asi river, which forms the border with Syria, lies the village of Hacipasa, with the village of Ezmerin on the Syrian side. The saga of Hacipasa is surely one of the most telling outcomes of the Syria policy then Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu so passionately defended in parliament when he boasted, “We will lead the wave of change in the Middle East. A new Middle East is being born. We will continue to be the owner, pioneer and servant of this Middle East." Here is how the oil trade fills IS coffers: From Ezmerin, about 500 illegal oil pipelines, small-diameter plastic pipes normally used for irrigation, extend to the Turkish side of the Asi River. On the Turkish side, they are buried under agricultural fields to reach the village. Just like the village’s underground water distribution lines, oil pipelines crisscross under streets to reach the back yards of private houses. Diesel fuel pumped from a tanker on the Syrian side fills the private tanks. Simple “pump” and “stop” commands are given over cellular phones. 1 Villagers laying the makeshift pipeline. (photo by Fehim Taştekin) Consumers come to the houses of sellers and buy the diesel for 1.25 Turkish lira per liter ($0.56). This is how the system worked for a long time. The state began to intervene only after the international media started to question whether Turkey was supporting IS and whether IS oil was being sold in Turkey. At the end of March, soldiers that had until then been watching the goings on from a hilltop about 100 meters from the river began digging up the pipes from the fields and cutting the ones that lay visible in the streets. Checkpoints were established to prevent the diesel from leaving Hacipasa. But the smugglers always found ways to bypass the gendarmerie, the latest being shipping the fuel in barrels. Confessions of smugglers After seeing the pipelines, Al-Monitor's correspondent spoke to a villager involved in the smuggling operation. From the balcony of his house, five or six pipelines are visible going into other houses. Six people in the house told Al-Monitor that some 80-90% of the village's families are involved in the diesel fuel smuggling. Many pipelines have been cut, but some fuel still comes through, which is why the price went up to 3 lira ($1.36) from 1.25. There is a saying in the village: "If you have not been in smuggling, you won’t find a bride." The state knows what is going on, said the villagers. Everything was happening in front of its soldiers. Some people even imported machinery from Japan to dig and lay the pipes. That can’t be done secretly. Every day, about 30-50 tanker loads of diesel is transferred. In Hatay, there are 4,500 semi trucks. They all use this fuel. Trucks come from central Anatolia to buy cheap fuel. One man said that he once got stuck in mud next to a pipeline, and soldiers came and towed him out. He said, "We were legal then but illegal now? What changed?" Soldiers dismantle a pipeline (Fehim Taştekin) When pipes and oil barrels were confiscated and some people were detained, there was popular reaction. The villagers demonstrated and soldiers beat up a few people. The villagers said that when the Syrian refugees came, they opened their houses to them. They carried that burden for three years, they said, without any help. "We helped to transfer relief supplies over the Asi to Syria. We evacuated the wounded to hospitals. One night, there was a call from the minaret loudspeakers of our mosque asking for people with cars to go and evacuate wounded people from the river." One man added, "That night, I transferred three casualties to the hospital. In return for all that, we made money from oil. Everyone looked the other way. Things changed after March. Soldiers now fire on people going near the border. People have been killed." People now watch for the changing of the guards, sometimes waiting up to three days for the right time to get to work. They said, "We helped everyone in Syria. We even helped Turkish officials to cross the border but suddenly, we are criminals. Fine, they punished us, now they should leave us alone. They should allow us to return to our work, to our fields. But soldiers now want to see our land deeds to before they let us go to the fields. Not everyone has a land deed. Some of the deeds are under the names of their relatives in Syria. I am running around in courts for years to get my own deed." Free Syrian Army, not IS The villagers of Hacipasa who voted for the ruling AKP in the last elections consider the illegal income they make from oil a fee for their support of Syrian refugees. When reminded that the oil smuggling has made IS rich, they object, protesting,

"If it was illegal, why did the state allow it?” They prefer to think of the Free Syrian Army, not IS, as benefiting from the trade.

From Hacipasa, where the streets smell of diesel fuel, Al-Monitor went to Cilvegozu, a border crossing near Reyhanli, and spoke with truck drivers protesting the new restrictions. Their problem, they say, is that drivers who use smuggled oil and fuel are fined heavily. Those caught a second time can lose their trucks. Drivers say it is not only Hacipasa making money from smuggling, but also the village of Besaslan. One driver said, ”There still two pipelines operating in Besaslan. Villagers share the money they make. But because the flow of oil has decreased, you may have to wait two days.” When asked, "You are objecting to the measures taken, but aren’t you uncomfortable with the money IS makes from this business?” their answer was: "Fine, let’s say they cut off the oil as a measure against IS. But militants are crossing the border freely. Go to Esentepe and you will see it.’’ Esentepe is a Reyhanli neighborhood where most cars have Syrian license plates. People believe many militants reside in that neighborhood. In the province of Hatay, Altinozu and Reyhanli both carried the burden of the civil war in Syria and also made a living from it. Those whose incomes are now affected by the measures taken by the state talk nostalgically of the unique situation they dealt with and made a living from. Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/09/turkey-syria-iraq-illegal-oil-pipeline.html##ixzz3DXNPt8GM =====