Three sources familiar with Erbil-Baghdad talks in Baghdad told KurdSat that the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) delegation will return to Baghdad today and a number of directors general of the Ministry of Finance and the Financial Supervision Bureau will accompany the delegation.
The delgation will discuss the report prepared by the Iraqi Financial Supervision Bureau on the audit of revenues and expenditures of the Kurdistan region, the sources explained.
The delegation wants to get a final say from Baghdad on whether it will spend the entire share of the region or an amount of money as a loan, as in the previous months. According to the sources, the Kurdistan region and Baghdad have not yet reached a conclusive agreement.
The Iraqi government has demanded the handover of 400,000 barrels of oil and non-oil revenues from the federal region, but the Kurdistan region has handed over only 55,000 barrels.
Baghdad also demands that all non-oil revenues be handed over and then 50% of the non-oil revenues will be sent back to the Kurdistan region.
The KRG delegation visited Baghdadi last week and held several meetings with the relevant federal government departments regarding the sending of the Kurdistan Region's share of the budget. However, it is not clear when the share will be sent.
The Kurdistan region depends almost entirely on its budget share to fund the region’s expenditures and paying its employees, however Baghdad has cut off the region’s budget share since 2014 and occasionally sends only a portion of the region's financial share and entitlements.
The Ministry of Oil said in a statement that the return of equipment and materials of the Beji refinery was based on the assistance of a loyal citizen and through several official and unofficial contacts, despite the efforts of the relevant parties.
The ministry added that the equipment and materials that were taken to several warehouses in the Kurdistan region and several places were distributed and identifying them was a difficult process.
The process of returning the equipment was after the citizen contacted the Oil and Energy Committee of the House of Representatives and the chairman of the committee who expressed his willingness to return them, some of which are not used, the statement noted.
The oil ministry said the equipment was returned in cooperation with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) without any charges.
According to the report total oil production was 36 million 723 thousand 475 barrels, of which 32 million 307 thousand 382 barrels were exported. Four million 39 thousand 232 barrels were allocated to refineries, while 376 thousand 861 barrels were sold domestically.
The average price of oil was $67.639 a barrel, according to Deloitte.
Total oil revenue was $2.199 billion, while domestic oil revenue was $22.98 million, at an average price of $58.638 a barrel.
According to the report, oil processing costs in the first quarter of this year was 1 billion 253 thousand dollars.
Of the total oil revenue, only $946 million 497 thousand 142 went to the coffers of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
Electricity Minister Ziad Ali said in a statement that Iraq's electricity production has risen to 23,509 MW and added that they are waiting for the increase in gas imports and with the increase in gas imports, the hours of electricity supply to citizens will increase. Referring to the plan to import more natural gas from Iran.
The minister noted that the contracts with Total and Albela will provide about 2,000 megawatts of electricity.
The minister's statement comes as Iraq's electricity supply has been reduced in recent days due to the suspension of gas imports from Iran. The Iraqi government has decided to export crude oil and crude oil to Iran in exchange for importing gas.
Ali Mashkur, a member of the Iraqi parliament's oil and gas committee, told the official Sabah newspaper that Oil and Gas Committee has proposed two new ways to export Kurdistan oil to the Iraqi Oil Minister, and these include exporting the oil through State Organization for Marketing of Oil (SOMO) through the south, with exports through the Iraq-Banyas pipeline through Syria.
He added that Iraq will take all diplomatic measures to resume the process of exporting Kurdistan oil through the Turkish port. Because the stagnation of the process will cost Iraq millions of dollars every day.
If Turkey continues to delay the resumption of Kurdistan's oil exports, Iraq will use southern routes to export the region’s oil.
Anyone who violates the ban, could face an imprisonment penalty of up to five years, the ministry said.
The fresh proceedings are part of a growing ‘de-dollarization’ trend and an overall decline in Washington’s economic influence.
Brigadier Hussein Tamimi, director of criminal operations at the Iraqi Interior Ministry, said they launched a campaign in coordination with the central bank to prevent the use of the US dollar for transactions and said that transactions must be in dinars only.
He said there has been a good response to the campaign in all Iraqi provinces except the Kurdistan Region, whose committees and units monitor markets, shopping centers and car showrooms.
Under Secretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence Brian E. Nelson said in a statement Saturday that he had met with Central Bank of Iraq Governor Ali al-Allaq in Istanbul the day before “to discuss banking sector reforms and a mutual commitment to anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism.”
He praised Iraq’s “steadfast dedication” to improving its compliance with international standards and “and offered continued cooperation in modernizing the banking sector,” the statement said.
Measures taken by the United States in recent months to stamp out money laundering and the channeling of dollars to Iran and Syria from Iraq have severely restricted Iraq’s access to hard currency.
Since the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, Iraq’s foreign currency reserves have been housed at the United States’ Federal Reserve, giving the Americans significant control over Iraq’s supply of dollars.
Iraqi President Latif Rashid has arrived in Switzerland to attend the Davos Economic Forum, where he is scheduled to discuss several issues related to Iraq's economic and security situation with world leaders and financial institutions.
With the participation of more than 2,500 leaders, representatives of countries, investors and international personalities, the 53rd World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, will kick off tonight and continue until the 20th of this month.
President Rashid will meet with a number of world leaders and heads of the World Economic Forum to discuss several issues and convey an accurate picture of Iraq's security and economic stability.
Iraq is a favorable environment for attracting investment that will help Iraq develop economic infrastructure and provide services to meet the needs of its citizens.
The main topics of this year's conference will be the food and energy crisis, inflation, slow economic and industrial growth, the role of the private sector, social problems and geopolitical risks as the war in Ukraine looms.
To combat unsteady dinar, Iraq opens money exchange booth in Baghdad International Airport
The Central Bank of Iraq said in a statement that it has opened a booth to sell dollars at Baghdad International Airport through the Iraqi Bank for Commerce. From Tuesday, they will sell dollars in cash to tourists, with each tourist being able to buy up to $5000 US, the bank said.
The Central Banks aims to sell US dollar at the value it has set that is around 1450 IQD for a dollar, but the private money exchange offices sell it at a higher price that is almost 1,600 IQD for a dollar.
The central bank said it has given permission to 20 banks to sell dollar increased the number of foreign exchanges to 20 banks, as an effort to stabilize the value of foreign currency in the markets.
The Bank also assured the people that the recent depreciations are temporary.
A dramatic decrease of the Iraqi dinar against the US dollar to record low levels since the collapse of the Saddam Hussein regime in 2003, has destabilized the Iraqi markets.
On a historic trip to Saudi Arabia, US President Joe Biden could not convince the Saudi monarchs to increase production and reduce prices. Following his visit, oil prices have only increased.
According to the Financial Times, if agreed to, a cut of that size would probably boost oil prices but risk angering the US and other western countries already battling an energy crisis and the risk of recession.
According to multiple sources close to the discussions, Saudi Arabia has aligned with Russia in supporting a large supply cut after oil prices slipped over the last quarter to around $90 a barrel from $120 in early June, the UK-based paper reported.
Weak oil prices are one of the main reasons driving the push for a 2-million-barrel daily production. It has been caused by a darkening economic outlook, depressing demand for crude oil and bringing down the prices.
European countries desperately need alternative energy sources following the war in Ukraine. Russia has used its energy as a counterattack to western sanctions on Moscow that have made the lives of ordinary Russians more challenging and increased pressure on Putin.
The European Union announced that the gas markets are experiencing tension amid expectations that prices will spiral out of control.
It seems that the European Commission is moving away from deciding to set a ceiling for gas prices, citing the need for more discussion among the European Union member states, which are already divided over the initiative.
But what appears to be close to being implemented is capping the revenues of low-cost energy companies and introducing mandatory consumption cuts.
Last week, European Union energy ministers asked the European Commission to propose broad ceilings for gas prices.
The European Union plans to replace two-thirds of Russia's gas imports by the end of the year, although analysts warn of a failure to meet demand.
Since the war in Ukraine, Russia has gradually reduced its sale of energy to European markets, and this has caused severe shortages in the EU.
Experts warn of a grave energy crisis in the coming winter, and the Union seems to be divided to reach any productive conclusion any time soon.
Brent crude futures fell 3.40, or 3.66%, to $89.43 a barrel by 13:38 GMT, touching its weakest level since February 3 and falling below $90 a barrel for the first time since February 8.
US West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell $3.42, or 3.94%, to $83.46 a barrel, its lowest since January 24.
Oil prices rebounded after Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Moscow would stop sending its gas and oil shipments if a price cap on Russian energy supplies were imposed.
A preliminary poll conducted by Reuters on Tuesday showed that US crude inventories are expected to decline for the fourth consecutive week, falling by an estimated 733,000 barrels in the week ending September 2.
Weekly data on US inventories will be released from the American Petroleum Institute and the Energy Information Administration on Wednesday and Thursday, a day later than usual due to a public holiday on Monday.
Despite a looming supply shortage, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies in the cartel known as OPEC+ decided to cut production targets by 100,000 barrels per day in October.
Russia's pipeline monopoly Transneft said Ukraine had suspended oil flow through the pipeline because Western sanctions had prevented Moscow from paying transit fees.
"We don't need that at this point, but it's another reminder of how tight the market is and how sensitive the price is to supply disruptions, particularly from Russia," said Craig Erlam of brokerage Oanda.
Brent crude rose $1.42, or 1.5 percent, to $98.07 a barrel at 11:13 GMT, falling to $94.90. US West Texas Intermediate crude also rose $1.01, or 1.1%, to $91.77.
This development related to Druzhba's pipeline comes when supply concerns have been waning amid growing concern about a recession. Earlier, oil came under pressure in connection with talks to revive the Iran nuclear deal that would increase Iranian oil exports.
Oil prices rose earlier in the year after Russia's invasion of Ukraine heightened supply concerns, sending Brent crude to $139 in March, close to an all-time high.
In a related context, Energy Aspects said on Monday that crude oil might continue to weaken before rising in the winter as the United States works to reduce withdrawals from strategic stocks and the European Union's ban on Russian supplies takes effect, Bloomberg reported.
This week's slew of data may give more direction to the market, as the US Energy Information Department is due to release its short-term forecast later on Tuesday.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and the International Energy Agency will also release their monthly reports on Thursday.
A total of 264 million digital yuan transactions were made during this period, Zu Lan, an official with the People's Bank of China, said at a press conference.
He added that by May 31, nearly 4.57 million commercial outlets were available for digital yuan payments, citing China's Xinhua News Agency.
He explained that the Central Bank will expand the scope of its pilot programs, support the construction of the pilot scenario, and enhance international cooperation.
After 20 years of appreciation against the dollar, the euro fell sharply. Russia’s war in Ukraine and its energy policies against the European Union, the effects of the coronavirus, rising inflation, rising fuel and energy prices and along with political and economic instability in EU member states has contributed to the Union’s currency decline.
Ali Fatlawi, a leader of the Coordination Framework, told the Iraqi media that the Coordination Framework continues its meetings to resolve the issue of the new Iraqi government as soon as possible.
He added that the coordination framework will hold a special meeting tomorrow or the day after to appoint a person for the post of prime minister.
Fatlawi said the appointment of the new prime minister will be in consultation with all forces and leaders within the Coordination, without marginalizing any side.