Oil negotiations rported stalled

Negotiations between Iraqi Oil Ministry and oil majors over Technical Support Agreements, TSAs, have been stalled and one of these has been terminated, the Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswire reported.


Hassan Hafidh of the Dow Jones Newswire reports that negotiations with an Anadarko Petroleum Corp. -led consortium for a short-term oil service contract to develop a major oil field in southern Iraq, have been terminated by the Iraqi Oil Ministry.

While Gina Chon of the Wall Street Journal says negotiations are going through hard path and are not likely to go through.

Haffidh also reported that Iraq has hired the U.K.-based Gaffney, Cline & Associates Ltd. to provide consultancy for the Oil Ministry on the first round of tenders to develop eight oil and gas fields.

"The company provides consultancy on contract models, how to submit tenders, which company should bid for this or that oil or gas field, and other suggestions," a sourace told Dow Jones Newswires.

The sources for these stories are Iraqi oil industry sources close to the Oil Ministry ( a reference which is mainly used to refer to former Iraqi oil officials) and a U.S. diplomat in Baghdad and I don't know why Iraqi Oil Ministry keeps mum on these negotiations as long as it is doing something correct...

kassakhoon@gmail.com

Resettlement Fever

A resettlement fever has spread recently in Iraq among Iraqis with U.S. affiliations as all of them are now eligible to apply directly from Baghdad to be refugees in the U.S. with less restrictions and they need only a recommendation letter from their employer and few other documents.

What a generosity from uncle Sam!!!

Early June, the American Embassy in Baghdad met with bureau managers of the U.S.-based companies who work in Iraq and have Iraqi employees, especially the media outlets, to tell them about the new resettlement program.

Some of these managers didn't tell their employers about this program, fearing their offices will be empty, while others did. And of course, like any city in world news spread quickly to reach those who don't know.

Now the majority of the Iraqi employers are applying for this program whatever they are from drivers to guards to cooks and senior employers while others are still reluctant including me as I fear to end up as a taxi driver or worker at a fuel station or vendor at a store...but still mulling it.

This fever is really frightenning some American companies especially those who depend a lot on Iraqis and that has forced some of these managers to spread rumors in their offices that the one who applies for this program will be eligible to be dismissed when they find an alternative for him because his company will no longer count on him....do you believe that???

I have the names of these companies but didn't publish them...

kassakhoon@gmail.com

A score for Muqtada al-Sadr

Iraq's anti-American radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr scores today when his followers killed four Americans including two soldiers and two U.S. government civilian employees, Sinan Salaheddin reports for the Associated Press.

The bomb struck a municipal council building in Baghdad's Shiite Sadr City district where the Americans gathered inside to attend an election event for a new head for the local council, The AP reports.

Now let's see what will happen next...will the Americans score?

kassakhoon@gmail.com

Conclusion: Saddam is better than you all

Iraq's May oil crud exports hit 2.11 million barrels a day, recording the highest export level since the U.S.-led invasion to this country in March 2003, an increase on the 1.90 million barrels a day exported in April, Hassan Hafidh reports for Dow Jones Newswire.

And that revenues from oil sales in May are expected to be more than April's figures, which reached $5.922 billion, bringing total oil revenues obtained during the first four months of this year to $21.416 billion, Dow Jones Newswire added added.

AND SO WHAT!!!!

We are still have no electricity, no clean drinking water, no public services, no appropriate medical care, no education to our children, lines on fuel stations have returned, dirty food ration its items not fit even to animals and....and....and....

In the past, all the world was blaming Saddam Hussein for spending Iraq's oil money to fuel his wars and fill his pockets but we had all the above mentioned things and more.

And now we have our oil in our hands, as our respected officials say, and we sale it at least three folds more than Saddam's era prices but our life is not like the one which other human beings enjoy on this planet.

Conclusion: Saddam is better than you all.

kassakhoon@gmail.com

Baghdad before and after

The BBC's Caroline Wyatt returns to Baghdad after a 10-year absence and is looking for a shoulder to cry on in this war-torn city.

"The Baghdad I remembered was a sprawling city, a place of honking horns and barely-controlled anarchy on the roads," Wyatt starts the story.

"Amid the narrow, uneven pavements of the gold market, I jostled for space with shoppers peering closely at the gold necklaces given to brides at their wedding," Wyatt says.

"As a Westerner, I felt safe."

Alas!!!

kassakhoon@gmail.com

Russia's Lokoil struggles to revive oil deal

Russia's Lokoil oil firm delegation came back to Baghdad and held Wednesday a meeting with Iraqi president, Jalal Talabani, to revive a Saddam-era oil deal for one of Iraq's 10 super giant fields with its reserves estimated over 4 billion barrels, Hassan Hafish reports for Dow Jones Newswire

In 1997, the oil giant Lukoil struck a $3.7 billion deal with former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein to drill at the West Qurna field in Basra. However, Saddam canceled the contract in 2002 the Russians hoped they would be able to revive it when Moscow wrote off most of Iraq's $12.9 billion debt.

In February, Russia agreed to write off $12 billion, or 93%, of Iraq's $12.9 billion debts to Moscow, a gesture that appeared aimed at helping Russian companies win contracts in Iraq. The two sides also signed a separate deal opening up Iraq for $4 billion in investment from Russian firms, including Lukoil.

I hope that the Russians have not been fooled!!!

kassakhoon@gmail.com

What?...Why?...Who?...

There was no doubt that everyone in the Arab world was happy today as seeing the Lebanese parliament members electing their new president after a six-month stand off which was ended after exerting huge Arab and world efforts, the most fruitful one was led by Qatar.

It was a real moment of happiness, especially for me, when I was seeing the majority of the world leaders and senior officials, whether from Arab or Muslim or European countries or others, who were racing to solve the Lebanese problem came together today to harvest the fruits of their efforts.

At these moments, I was feeling a voice inside me wants to reach everyone of those leaders and senior officials to show the same determination they showed over the past six months to solve the Lebanese problem to our problem and help us to get out of our endless sufferings.

With that voice, questions were flowing inside me: tens of conferences were held for Iraq since 2003 what they yielded in? why we are not going forward? what we need to go forward?what we need to heal the past wounds? who can help us? what?....why?....who?.....

kassakhoon@gmail.com

Another black day to Iraqi media

Iraqi fledgling media witnesses today another black day with the death announcement of two local journalists: one in Baghdad and another in Diayala province, Aseel Kami and Khalid al-Ansary report for Reuters.

Wisam Ali Ouda, a 32-year old cameraman for Afaq TV channel, was shot to dead Wednesday in Baghdad's eastern Obaidi district by U.S. soldiers, according to the station's spokeswoman.

"We confirm one of our employees was killed by an American sniper," Bushra Abdul-Amir, head of public relations at the station told Reuters, citing testimonies given by witnesses to the station's managers.

It is an accusation echoed by Hadi Jalu, deputy director of NGO Iraq's Journalistic Freedoms Observatory. "They all said an American soldier killed him," he said.

U.S. army denied any civilians had been killed during military operations in Obaidi on Wednesday.

While the second journalist was Haidar Hashim al-Husseini, a reporter for the local al-Sharq newspaper who was found dumped in a field with nine other corpses in Diyala province, about 60 kilometer northeast of Baghdad, after being kidnapped on Tuesday.

When this ends for God sake?

kassakhoon@gmail.com

Our government and the magic key

It sounds that our "national unity" government hoists now the white flag as it grows desperate for not reaching any agreement between all its political factions to have normalcy back to this war-torn country.

It now turns its eyes to beyond its borders to have somone with a magic key.

Today, our president Jalal Talabani sent a letter to Qatar's Emir, Sheik Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, in which he expresses his appreciation to the efforts he made to solve the crisis in Lebanon and invites him to visit Iraq.

I hope that Sheik Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani would accept Talabani's invitation to visit Iraq but with a magic key to get our country back on the track.

Do you think that Iraq's magic key is no long with the Iraqis?

kassakhoon@gmail.com

Iraqi sellers go online

I just found this new Web Site and I wanted to share it with you but unfortunately it's only in Arabic so that I advice those who do not speak Arabic to have someone to translate, although I did a little bit, because you will enjoy it.

It is www.mredy.com , the first ever Iraqi buy-online Web Site just to imitate www.amazon.com or www.ebay.com although there are still ages ahead between them with no delivery available or guarantee which such sites offer to their costumers.

But instead if you are interested to buy something you have to get in touch with the seller either by phone of e-mail to arrange the deal.

I don't know why it is named after the name of Baghdad's notorious popular Mredy market which is located in its eastern slum of Sadr City where stolen staff, forged documents and other staff are being sold.

At this Web Site you will meet Laith al-Kadhimi , a Baghdad resident who offers a one-ton Renault van model 1995 "but it can take more than two tons."

He only asks for US $6,000.

And you can also call Alaa Naji from Baghdad if you are interested to buy his two-burner Italian made cooking stove which he doesn't "need it anymore and is in a very good condition."

The price is 50,000 Iraqi Dinnars (about US$ 42) and you can find it at " Abu Alaa shope for watches in al-Kubaisi building."

But the most distinguished seller is Abu Hassan who offers a "Taq (distinguished) mobile phone number for Asia Cell which has not registered yet to anyone."

The number is 07708 000 808 and the price for it is US$ 100 while Asia Cell SIM chip is sold at US$ 5 and I don't know why Abu Hassan sees his number is "Taq."

Anyway I hope that you will enjoy your tour and find what you need and most important thing is that I hope to see www.mredy.com as a peer to amazon and ebay...do you think so? why not let's see....

kassakhoon@gmail.com

UN work nature, is it controversial?

I always see the work of the United Nations as a controversial one: it sometimes directly endorses the wars or it does it indirectly by turning its eyes, closing its ears and mouth while on the other side it helps the victims of these wars.

In 2003, it couldn't stop the U.S.-led invasion and now it begs to help Iraqis who are affected by this war.

In its recent appeal on 9 May, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) called on international donors for more US $127 million to help continuing its assistance programs for Iraqi internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees throughout the end of 2008.

The appeal was the second in this year as the first one was in January which was for US$261 million but it has so far received only US$134 million and spend them all.

But Iraqis, like Basil al-Azawi who heads the Iraqi Commission for Civil Society Enterprises, a coalition of over 1,000 Iraqi non-governmental organizations (NGOs), are skeptical and demand the international body to cooperate with local NGOs and present detailed documents on their expendtures.

Al-Azawi told the UN IRINnews that local Iraqi NGOs "have no idea how this [aid] money is being spent. Some organisations present detailed documents on their expenditures, others do not.”

“There is a perception that huge sums are being paid as high salaries to these organisations’ employees or being paid as rent for their buildings,” al-Azawi added.

kassakhoon@gmail.com