IRAQ NOW

BAGHDAD — Militants attacked and shut down Iraq's largest oil refinery on Saturday, killing four workers and setting off bombs that started a raging fire, officials said. The assailants broke into the Beiji refinery around 3:30 a.m. local time, attacking guards and planting explosives. "The refinery has completely stopped," Salahuddin province Governor Ahmed al-Jubouri told Reuters. "It's a big loss for the whole country. All Iraqi cities depend on its production.
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A former al-Qaida stronghold, Beiji is about 155 miles north of Baghdad.

The blast sparked a fire that was later brought under control, a police source said. It took about five hours and up to 50 fire trucks to contain the blaze. The units that were damaged by the attack have a production capacity of around 150,000 barrels per day, a Beiji official said. "Fixing the damage will take long time. We are not talking about days, the damage is too severe," said the Beiji official, who asked not to be named.

Iraq does not export any oil products as it uses all of its production for power generation and domestic consumption.
The country's capacity to refine fuels like diesel and gasoline has been ravaged by underinvestment, and it has been forced since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion to buy imported fuels to meet the growing gap between supply and domestic demand.

Baghdad has signed multi-billion deals with international oil companies to boost output capacity to 12 million barrels a day in seven years, rivaling top oil exporter Saudi Arabia.

But everything depends on whether the OPEC member can secure its vital oilfields, refineries and other infrastructure against insurgents and militia that have plagued the country since the invasion.

Story: Start another war like Iraq? You're nuts, Gates says

Overall violence in Iraq has dropped sharply since the peak of sectarian conflict in 2006-07 but attacks still occur on a daily basis.

The Beiji refinery was previously controlled by al-Qaida militants, who used it to finance the insurgency.
Beiji normally operates at 70 percent of its capacity and produces 11 million liters of gasoline, 7 million liters of benzene and 4.5 million liters of kerosene a day. The refinery was last shut in August for two days due to an electrical fault.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41791987/ns/world_news-mideast/n_africa/


BAGHDAD - Iraq's largest oil refinery was shut down on Saturday after militants carried out a bomb attack and set it on fire, the governor of Salahuddin province said.
The militants killed four people and planted bombs at production units for kerosene and benzene at the refinery in the town of Baiji, a former al Qaeda stronghold about 112 miles north of Baghdad, Governor Ahmed al-Jubouri said.

"There is a big fire in the refinery and the refinery has completely stopped," Jubouri told Reuters.

Overall violence in Iraq has dropped sharply since the peak of sectarian conflict in 2006-07, but attacks still occur on a daily basis.

Militants bomb Iraq's largest oil refinery
Firefighters battle blaze for five hours after attackers kill four workers

The Baiji refinery was controlled for a long time by al Qaeda militants, who used it to finance the insurgency.

The refinery normally operates at 70 percent of its capacity and produces 11 million litres of gasoline, 7 million litres of benzene and 4.5 million litres of kerosene a day.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/41791984


BAGHDAD - Iraq's Baiji oil refinery was shut down on Saturday after militants carried out a bomb attack and set it on fire, the governor of Salahuddin province said.

http://www.iraq-businessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Baiji-Bayji-oil-refinery-2.jpg

The militants killed four people and planted bombs at production units for kerosene and benzene at the refinery in the town of Baiji, a former al Qaeda stronghold about 180 km north of Baghdad, Governor Ahmed al-Jubouri said.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4034197,00.html

Amid public outrage over government corruption, unemployment and a lack of basic services, Iraq's parliament approved the appointments of eight new ministers to the Cabinet on Sunday -- but key security posts remain empty. The lawmakers greenlighted candidates tapped by Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki for ministries that include electricity, trade and municipalities. The first female minister was approved for the Cabinet to oversee women's affairs. Candidates for the ministries of defense, interior and national security have not been named, though parliamentary speaker Osama al-Nujaifi told his colleagues that al-Maliki promised to submit nominees for those posts in the coming days.

Meanwhile, hundreds of angry demonstrators took to the streets of Ramadi -- about 100 kilometers west of Baghdad -- on Sunday, protesting against the government's inability to provide basic services.

Similar demonstrations have been held across Iraq in recent weeks, inspired by uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt and other countries in the region.

In December, after nearly a year fraught with political infighting, the parliament voted to approve al-Maliki's new government, despite the vacancies.

The long-awaited legislative action came more than nine months after a hotly disputed national election that threatened to inflame the country's deep sectarian tensions.

The government composition is inclusive of Iraq's major ethnic and sectarian groups, brought together by a fragile U.S.-backed power sharing deal agreed on in November.

But it is clear that sectarianism remains, as the posts were divided along ethnic and sectarian lines.

The prime minister has three deputies -- a Shiite, a Kurd, and a Sunni Arab, representing the three largest entities in Iraq.

Saleh al-Mutlaq, who has been one of al-Maliki's critics, is the Sunni deputy. He had been barred from politics because of alleged ties to the Baathist party, the outlawed political movement of late Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. Parliament lifted that ban in December.

On Sunday, the parliament failed to hold a vote on three vice presidents under the power-sharing deal after some lawmakers had reservations on a Shiite candidate.

At the end of 2011, the United States is set to withdraw all of its troops from Iraq as part of a bilateral agreement with the Baghdad government.

link http://articles.cnn.com/2011-02-13/world/iraq.politics_1_maliki-sunni-deputy-key-security-posts?_s=PM:WORLD


ThisGerman source says there are massive damages to the refinery and Iraq's electricity net will be severely weakened for weeks to come...
http://www.bild.de/BILD/news/telegramm/telegramm,,iurl=http:_2F_2Fweb.bild.de_2Fcont_2Fschlaglichter_2F12084813.html.html

Translation:

Bagdad (DPA) - insurgent ones attacked an oil refinery in Iraq. The plant was heavily damaged. According to data of the national television the aggressors in a refinery killed 200 kilometers north of Bagdad of four engineers. The attack, which paralyzed three production lines, might lead to a further degradation of the anyway already unsatisfactory Iraqi current supply.

The Prime Minister asked the House of Representatives quickly approved the budget for fear of street agitation 2011-02-13 18:23:18 [-] Text [+] BAGHDAD (Iba) ... Revealed a member of the House of Representatives of the Alliance forces, but Talabani Kurdish demand that Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki of the House of Representatives quickly approved the general budget of the state for fear of the Iraqi street agitation. Said Talabani, told the independent press (Iba) that the political blocs that seek to approve the budget during the next few days because the general situation in the country to Athtml any postponement or delay of approval. She said that the main reason for the delay in approving the budget until now borne by the ministries to the absence of its final accounts, noting that the Iraqi ministries did not submit final accounts since 2003. The forces and political figures and parliamentary elections has confirmed that this week will see the adoption of Iraq's budget for the current year.

~~~

Oil tensions appear to be easing between Iraq’s central government and the northern Kurdish region, at least a temporarily. Following high-level meetings here on Monday, the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) will resume exports via Iraq’s pipelines beginning Feb. 1, at rates that will reach 100,000 barrels per day (bpd).

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and other key Baghdad officials hosted a delegation from the KRG, which was led by Kurdish Prime Minister.
http://www.iraqoilreport.com/politics/oil-policy/krg-exports-to-restart-after-secret-agreement-5291/

Info on Maliki that has not made MSM. Assassination attempt was made against Maliki where he suffered a minor leg injury. The assassin was terminated at the location of the attempt. Maliki is out of hospital and on 1 February11 attended meetings and additional meetings on 13February11 . Both Maliki and Shabbibi are under US military escorts.

The Iraqi Dinar Revaluation in 2011
The Iraqi Dinar is currently trading at around 1175.5 (bid) Dinars to one US dollar. This represents a slight decrease, but only by an insignificant amount--well within the range of the bid and the ask. The Iraqi Dinar, prior to the US invasion, was near on par with the US dollar. Actually, some figures show that the Iraqi Dinar was 3 to 1 to the dollar, but that was apparently a subjective figure determined by Saddam and his party, so it is hard to pin down its true value. The Iraqi Dinar Value Chart to the bottom right only goes back five years. In that time period, however, the Iraqi Dinar has accumulated value against the dollar.

The turmoil that ensued during and after the Gulf wars decimated the currency, and now it takes over 250,000 Dinar to buy a cheap refrigerator in Iraq. It takes over a thousand Dinar to buy a loaf of bread. The sanctions, unstable government, reparations, destruction of oil wells, the lack of external (much less internal) investment all contributed to the Dinar's demise.

Recently, however, Iraq has become more and more viable every day. Sanctions are being lifted, Iraq’s Parliament officially approved a second term for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and his partial cabinet lineup, and Iraq recently enjoyed International participation in developing and redeveloping its oil wells and oil discovery projects.

As a side note, the United States did not garner very many contracts in this regard. Our oil and gas companies decided that the terms of the contracts were too restrictive and unprofitable. Those contracts are good for Iraq's economy, AND will not become a detriment to our own domestic oil and gas companies.

There were indeed security concerns in the past, and they still exist, but on a much smaller scale.

"There is a big misconception regarding security, yes there are problems but it is nothing compared to the past. In the past we had a huge security issue but now things have changed. I would say now there is a reduced security problem. We have a strong security force and incidents have all but finished. Corruption is another issue which media has not rightly covered. In the past, the government was weak, but now the government is strong, with transparency and accountability paramount, especially given the international coverage even the smallest issue on corruption is given." (Source:prnewswire.com/news-releases/iraq-development-advances-despite-concerns-102886039.html)

Iraq has been stated to have oil reserves that compete, or surpass (speculative), the largest oil reserve countries in the world, including Saudi Arabia, Canada, Iran, Venezuala, Russia, etc.

The IQD (New Iraqi Dinar) is not yet traded on the open foreign currency exchange market. That being said:

"Under the Order of the Coalition Provisional Government Order 39, a US citizen has the same rights to investments as an Iraqi citizen."

However, you'll probably have to go to a foreign exchange currency dealer to buy Iraqi Dinar. Furthermore, despite the claims that these sites typically make, they will probably not buy your Dinar back from you. If they do buy it back, they will probably buy it back at a deep discount.

If you find a specific bank that buys and sells New Iraqi Dinar, please leave a comment below with the Bank's phone number and/or address for others to read. Buying New Iraqi Dinar at a respectable bank avoids the 30% or more markup currency dealers charge, and it may be safer, not knowing to whom you are sending your cash. It is convenient, however, to buy New Iraqi Dinar from currency dealers, as some of them are able to allow the use of a credit card for purchase. If they allow credit cards, then the site is presumably one of the safer dealers.

Please do not succumb to the hype! Logical minds doubt there will be a revaluation to the US dollar on any scale other than a normal (slow) increase at which their currency recovers. This does not seem like a get rich quick phenomenon. I do, strongly, believe that the Iraqi Dinar will increase in value against the US dollar, however, I do not believe it is going to happen overnight, and I doubt it will make any of us instant millionaires.

If you have some disposable income that you would ordinarily throw out the window of your vehicle while driving down the Interstate, buying New Iraqi Dinar would be a better use of your unneeded money.

However, if you speculate that the United States will go through a period of hyper-inflation, this is a good way to inflation proof your capital assets while the economy (hopefully) stabilizes. If the value of the dollar drops (like most of the great economic minds are alluding to), the Iraqi Dinar is most likely going to gain in value (against the inflated dollar), as well as many other foreign currencies. Having a few gold coins, silver ingots, Euro, Yen, Yuan, Dong, and Dinar around will somewhat protect you, or cushion the blow, from the pending US dollar currency collapse.

In any investment, there is a risk you may lose your ENTIRE investment. However, you can adorn your walls with this currency, as it is very colorful. You can also have your children bring these currencies to class with them for show-and-tell, and share with them the rich history of Iraq and the various countries' currencies with which you invest.

http://hubpages.com/hub/Iraqi-Dinar-Value-Chart-For-Converting-Iraqi-Dinar-Value-to-Dollar

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/ml_iraq

BAGHDAD – Iraqi officials say at least 11 people have been killed and dozens injured in a day of violent clashes across the country between security forces and demonstrators.

At least nine demonstrators were killed in separate clashes in three northern Iraqi cities during what was described as a "Day of Rage." In the western Anbar province at least two people were killed as security forces and demonstrators battled.

BAGHDAD – Gunmen attacked Iraq's largest oil refinery before dawn Saturday, killing a guard and detonating bombs that sparked a fire and forced the facility to halt operations, officials said.
A few hours later, a small refinery in the south shut down after a technical failure sparked a fire in a storage unit, an official said.

If not fixed swiftly, the two shutdowns could translate into long lines at fuel stations and longer electricity o
outages. The dearth of reliable electricity — some Iraqis get just a few hours a day — was one of the leading complaints of protesters during violent anti-government protests across Iraq on Friday.

The attack on Iraq's largest refinery, Beiji, began at about 3:30 a.m. Assailants carrying pistols fitted with silencers attacked guards and planted bombs near some production units for benzene and kerosene, said the spokesman for Salahuddin province, Mohammed al-Asi.

One guard was killed and another wounded, al-Asi said.
Iraqi Oil Ministry spokesman Assem Jihad said an investigation would be launched and that he hoped operations could resume shortly.

The Beiji refinery, located about 155 miles (250 kilometers) north of Baghdad, has two sections. The attackers targeted the installation's North Refinery that handles 150,000 barrels a day. The second section, the Salahuddin Refinery, is under renovation. It used to process 70,000 barrels per day.

At the height of the insurgency from 2004 to late 2007, the Beiji refinery was under control of Sunni militants who used to siphon off crude and petroleum products to finance their operations.

Hours after the Beiji facility was attacked, a small refinery in Samawa, a city on the Euphrates River about 230 miles (370 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad, went offline due to a fire in the storage unit, according to a local official.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to release information, said the fire was caused by a technical failure, not foul play. He wouldn't say when work would resume at the plant which has the capacity of 30,000 barrels of a day.

Iraq's overall refining capacity is currently slightly over 500,000 barrels per day. Its three main oil refineries — Dora, Shuaiba and Beiji — process slightly over half of the 700,000 barrels-per-day capacity they had before the 2003 U.S. invasion.

Iraq sits on the world's third-largest known oil reserves with an estimated 115 billion barrels, but its production is far below its potential due to decades of war, U.N. sanctions, lack of foreign investment and insurgent attacks.
Iraq has been importing refined products since 2003 because of the dilapidated refining sector and booming local demand.

Saturday's closures could spell trouble for Iraqi consumers, especially at a time when the weather is just beginning to warm and more citizens will be relying on their air conditioning.

Also Saturday, health officials and police said two teens, ages 12 and 18, died of injuries sustained in the anti-government protests, bringing the death toll for the day to 14. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release information.

On Friday, thousands marched on government buildings and clashed with security forces in cities across Iraq in an outpouring of anger, the largest and most violent anti-government protests in the country since political unrest began spreading in the Arab world weeks ago.

The protests, billed as a "Day of Rage, were fueled by anger over corruption, chronic unemployment and shoddy public services from the Shiite-dominated government.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110226/ap_on_bi_ge/ml_iraq

06/03/2011 - Baghdad, The Central Bank of Iraq adviser, on Sunday, that Iraq follow the high-level political economic repayment of the debt as they have not faced legal problems.

He said the appearance of Mohammed Saleh told the Kurdish news agency (Rn) that "Iraq followed an economic policy is one of the best plans in the payment of debt and economic, as approved by the Paris Club as a political religion, economic applied well."

And the Paris Club group is not of financial officials from 19 countries of the world's richest countries notably the United States, Britain, Australia, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Germany and Ireland service provides debt cancellation on Civil and creditor countries.

The IMF had identified the names of those countries after alternative solutions have failed to change with the methods of payment of outstanding debt.

Saleh added that "Iraq is over thanks to the economic policy followed by the debt to reduce its debt to 80% in seven years, which could be described as an important achievement."

He continued by saying that "the ratio of debt remaining at the end if Iraq continued to follow the political religion that would make Iraq one of the least indebted countries despite economic turmoil caused by the political changes in the country."

The Central Bank of Iraq in 23 of the last month, said Iraq's debt paid 3 thousand and five hundred creditor commercial value of 2.7 billion U.S. dollars as a means to protect the funds from external manipulation of the trading companies.

It is hoped that Iraq shall submit to the UN Security Council a detailed report in May next, looking the most important pillars of the protection of Iraqi funds.

Revealed the Iraqi Finance Ministry on the seventh of January last, the work of the Committee to Protect Iraqi funds abroad would be a secret to avoid fictitious companies that claim to be Iraq funds request.

The Ministry of Finance of Iraq, earlier this year that the Commission on technical government took over the development of mechanisms to protect Iraqi funds in foreign banks after the UN Security Council resolution mid-November, who spent the past to raise funds to protect the Iraqi end of June next.

The UN Security Council voted unanimously mid-January last three resolutions concerning the lifting of the embargo imposed on Iraq on the import of nuclear material for peaceful purposes, and cancel the oil for food program, also extended the immunity of and for the last phase compensation imposed under Chapter VII until the end of June June.

The former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein ordered the invasion of Kuwait in 1990.

And imposed on Iraq after its invasion of sanctions from the international community and put under Chapter VII, which makes it a country threatening world peace and security.

Included international sanctions prevented the import of chemicals and nuclear technology that could be used in a secret nuclear programs, chemical and biological weapons.

Has allowed the United Nations in 1995 for Iraq to sell oil in return for food, called "oil-for lunch."

http://www.aknews.com/ar/aknews/2/223063/
Posted by Kel at http://articlesofinterest-kelley.blogspot.com/
http://www.aknews.com/ar/aknews/2/223063/

Central: Iraq, follow the best plans to pay its debts as financial ... ~ 06/03/2011

Baghdad, The Central Bank of Iraq adviser, on Sunday, that Iraq follow the high-level political economic repayment of the debt as they have not faced legal problems.

He said the appearance of Mohammed Saleh told the Kurdish news agency (Rn) that "Iraq followed an economic policy is one of the best plans in the payment of debt and economic, as approved by the Paris Club as a political religion, economic applied well."

And the Paris Club group is not of financial officials from 19 countries of the world's richest countries notably the United States, Britain, Australia, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Germany and Ireland service provides debt cancellation on Civil and creditor countries.

The IMF had identified the names of those countries after alternative solutions have failed to change with the methods of payment of outstanding debt.

Saleh added that "Iraq is over thanks to the economic policy followed by the debt to reduce its debt to 80% in seven years, which could be described as an important achievement."

He continued by saying that "the ratio of debt remaining at the end if Iraq continued to follow the political religion that would make Iraq one of the least indebted countries despite economic turmoil caused by the political changes in the country."

The Central Bank of Iraq in 23 of the last month, said Iraq's debt paid 3 thousand and five hundred creditor commercial value of 2.7 billion U.S. dollars as a means to protect the funds from external manipulation of the trading companies.

It is hoped that Iraq shall submit to the UN Security Council a detailed report in May next, looking the most important pillars of the protection of Iraqi funds.

Revealed the Iraqi Finance Ministry on the seventh of January last, the work of the Committee to Protect Iraqi funds abroad would be a secret to avoid fictitious companies that claim to be Iraq funds request.

The Ministry of Finance of Iraq, earlier this year that the Commission on technical government took over the development of mechanisms to protect Iraqi funds in foreign banks after the UN Security Council resolution mid-November, who spent the past to raise funds to protect the Iraqi end of June next.

The UN Security Council voted unanimously mid-January last three resolutions concerning the lifting of the embargo imposed on Iraq on the import of nuclear material for peaceful purposes, and cancel the oil for food program, also extended the immunity of and for the last phase compensation imposed under Chapter VII until the end of June June.

The former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein ordered the invasion of Kuwait in 1990.

And imposed on Iraq after its invasion of sanctions from the international community and put under Chapter VII, which makes it a country threatening world peace and security.

Included international sanctions prevented the import of chemicals and nuclear technology that could be used in a secret nuclear programs, chemical and biological weapons.

Has allowed the United Nations in 1995 for Iraq to sell oil in return for food, called "oil-for lunch."

http://www.aknews.com/ar/aknews/2/223063/

Awesome. That's what I'm reading from various sources as well. Would be nice if it actually happens as the US has been putting a abash on this for RV years.