IRAQ | Energy Sector

[ardamir]

For news regarding the energy sector in Iraq.

[ardamir]

Iraq sells $2.1 bln bonds to fund power deals
Wed Mar 17, 2010 2:54pm GMT

BAGHDAD, March 17 (Reuters) - Iraq has raised $2.1 billion from local banks via a reopened one-year treasury bond issue to fund electricity projects, the country's finance minister said on Wednesday.

Iraq issued the second tranche last week after it sold a first tranche worth around $3 billion at the end of last year, Bayan Jabor said.

"We issued the treasury bonds... to fund the electricity ministry," Jabor told reporters.

In 2008, Iraq signed multi-billion dollar deals with General Electric (GE.N) and Siemens (SIEGn.DE) to add nearly 9,000 megawatts of capacity over the next few years.

Iraq has scrambled for ways to finance the purchase after a plunge in oil prices in 2008 deprived it of revenues and forced it to slash its 2009 budget three times.

Local banks bought into the bonds by using cash from their reserve requirements to lend the Finance Ministry, at a rate of 2 percent, Mudher Kasim, a senior central bank adviser said.

"These are treasury bonds but ... they were not auctioned. They are special issuances," Kasim said.

Seven years after the U.S.-led invasion, Iraq's national grid still only supplies a few hours of power each day. Intermittent electricity is one most Iraqis' main complaints.

Iraq's current electricity capacity is 7,500 megawatts, far short of the country's requirement of 12,000 megawatts.

(Reporting by Aseel Kami; Editing by Rania El Gamal, John Stonestreet)

http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKLDE62G1ZB20100317

[ardamir]

Iraq Agrees To Renew Oil Link Accord With Turkey

March 17, 2010
BAGHDAD (Reuters) -- Iraq has agreed with Turkey to renew an accord to operate an oil pipeline from its northern oil fields near Kirkuk to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan, a senior Iraqi oil official has said.

"Iraq has approved to renew the Kirkuk-Ceyhan agreement after agreeing on some changes and amendments", Iraq's deputy oil minister, Ahmad al-Shamma, told Reuters.

Shamma said the two sides had agreed on new transit fees and upgrades to the pipeline.

"There is an Iraqi delegation in Turkey now, headed by a deputy oil minister, to finalize the deal."

The agreement is expected to be signed during a trip by Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz to Baghdad, scheduled for March 22, said a Turkish Energy Ministry official who declined to be named.

An agreement between Baghdad and Ankara that governs the operation of the 970-kilometer pipeline, which transports about a quarter of all Iraqi oil exports, expires this month.

Turkish officials said talks with Baghdad on extending the accord began last year.

The deal will include a guarantee from Baghdad on the flow of oil in the pipeline, the Turkish Energy Ministry official said.

Flows are sometimes halted due to maintenance problems or sabotage by Iraqi insurgents and poor security left the link mostly idle between 2003 and 2007 after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

The double-pipe link has a capacity of 1.6 million barrels per day (bpd) but normally carries about 500,000 bpd.

The Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline first opened in 1977.

http://www.rferl.org/content/Iraq_Ag...y/1986386.html

[lma_13]

History of Oil in Iraq

( History)

Lord Curzon, the British Foreign Secretary, denied that oil interests influenced policy in Iraq, but the archives show that the British government rushed troops to Mosul in 1918 to gain control of the northern oil fields. Britain and France clashed over Iraq's oil during the Versailles Conference and after, but Britain eventually took the lion's share by turning its military victories into colonial rule. The powerful Iraq Petroleum Company, in which US and French firms held minority positions, acted always in the cartel interests of the Anglo-American companies. To the fury of the Iraqis and the French, it held down production to maximize profits elswhere. The company kept a monopoly of Iraq's oil sector until nationalization in 1972.

The Early Struggle Over Iraq's Oil

The Byzantine Beginnings: The Quest for Oil (April 25, 2003)

Since the discovery of oil in the Middle East in 1908, western powers have sought dominance over the region's resources. Dr. Ferruh Demirmen examines western influence in Iraq's oil industry, from the creation of the Turkish Petroleum Company in 1911 by the UK, the Netherlands and Germany to the entry of US oil giants after World War I. (Global Policy Forum)

The Byzantine Beginnings: The Reign of a Monopoly (April 26, 2003)

The Turkish Petroleum Company's (TPC) creation by the UK aimed at seeking concessions to explore for Iraqi oil, to eliminate rivalry among TPC's partners and to compete with US oil companies. This paper examines the history of Iraq's oil industry from World War I to 1972 and assesses the "winners and losers" of the Iraq oil game. (Global Policy Forum)

Great Power Conflict over Iraqi Oil: the World War I Era (October, 2002)

Western conflicts over Iraqi oil go back to the World War I era. This article by James A. Paul describes how major international powers combined military force, government pressure and the action by powerful companies to control Iraq's oil. (Global Policy Forum)

Intervention in Iraq, 1958-1959 (April 2008)

From 1958 to 1959, US preemptive intervention in Iraq seemed likely amid policy fears that it would become a "Soviet satellite." Parallel to 2003, the US in the 1950s suffered from national insecurity, conservative media propaganda and oil greed.

President Eisenhower, however, knew enough "about the military, about occupations and about diplomacy" to understand the consequences of invading Iraq and therefore intervention was avoided. (Middle East Institute)

Britain Says US Planned to Seize Oil in '73 Crisis (January 6, 2004)

Declassified British documents indicate that the US government "was prepared to secure America's oil supply," should OPEC prolong the oil embargo. The Pentagon planned to seize oilfields in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Abu Dhabi. The UK secret intelligence services considered use of force a serious contingency. (New York Times)

Iraq Oil and British Foreign Policy after World War I (1995)

In this excerpt from his book British Foreign Policy During the Curzon Period, 1919-1924, G. H. Bennett discusses the importance of oil in Britain's strategic thinking about Iraq, including the decision to violently repress the Iraqi Revolt of 1920.

Britain's Priority: Control of Oil Reserves

This selection from Helmut Mejcher's Imperial Quest for Oil: Iraq 1910-1928 describes how the British government sought to control Iraq's oil reserves as a supreme policy interest as it established colonial control over the country and drew Iraq's new boundaries.

The Primacy of Oil in Britain's Iraq Policy (1976)

This excerpt from Peter Sluglett's book Britain in Iraq shows how oil was the central issue of concern to British policy makers in the years after World War I.

Sluglett quotes from a number of important documents and he shows that official denials about oil-driven policy were falsehoods to deceive foreign rivals as well as the British public.

Oil in Iraq: The Role of the International Oil Industry

An Interest in Oil (1988)

This excerpt from "America as Junior Partner: Anglo-American Relations in the Middle-East" by Barry Rubin, shows conflicts between the United States and Britain over control of Middle East oil during the interwar period (1918-1939). The conservative Rubin, today a Bush administrtion cheerleader, demonstrates that scholars of all political persuasions recognize the primacy of oil in Middle East history.

Oil Companies Hold Down Production in Iraq (1977)

John Blair, in this well-known study, shows how US and UK oil companies restricted production in their concessions in Iraq, in spite of repeated protests by their French partner and by the Iraqi government.

Oil: The Rewards of Power (1972)

Joyce and Gabriel Kolko describe in this excerpt from The Limits of Power: The World and United States Foreign Policy 1945-1954, the United States' and Britain's struggle for Middle East oil during the post war period.

Nationalization in Iraq

The Oil Companies vs. Iraq: Leadup to Nationalization, 1958-1973

This text, from Joe Stork's classic study on Middle East oil, shows how the Anglo-American companies resisted change in the organization of Iraq's oil industry, ignoring pressure by the government to prospect more widely and pump more oil. After years of obstruction, Iraq finally nationalized its oil industry in June, 1972.

[lma_13]

Tariq Shafiq on Iraqi Oil Reserves :



Monday, January 11, 2010


Another interesting reference on Iraqi Oil Reserves (besides the al-Mehaidi report I already mentioned) is Iraq Oil Development Policy Options: In Search Of Balance by Tariq Shafiq from December 2003 (ie about 9 months after the US invasion). According to the article,


Tariq Shafiq is a petroleum engineer who was Vice President and Executive Director of the Iraq National Oil Company (INOC). Recently he was the leading researcher and coordinator for a Petrolog & Associates study on Iraq’s exploration and production capacity, in a joint venture with the Centre for Global Energy Studies


Here are a few excerpts of interest


In 1966, the Iraq National Oil Company (INOC) carried out a study of potential oil reserves covering an area of approximately 215,000 sq km south of the horizontal line at the center of the country and to the south, but excluding the major producing fields of Rumaila and Zubair. The information and data were derived from the records of IPC and its associated companies (BPC and MPC). A total of 301 anomalies were identified, mainly by gravity and some seismic surveys. Of these, only 135 anomalies were considered sufficiently credible. Aided by their geological settings and by probability analysis, the oil-in-place of the Tertiary and Cretaceous age was estimated at 350bn barrels and potential recoverable oil reserves at 111bn barrels.

In 1994, I presented a paper at a geological oil conference in ΄Amman, Jordan, and developed it further a few years later for an oil conference at the Centre for Global Energy Studies, in London (CGES). I utilized an empirical relationship, which relates the discovered oil in a geological basin to the exploration effort along a time-scale. It demonstrates that exploration effectiveness starts low at the initial phase, then picks up sharply and grows almost linearly until the bulk of the reserves are discovered, when it slows down as the ultimate reserves of the basin are reached.

In Iraq, there are some 530 structural anomalies that have been identified by geophysical means. Of these, only 114 have been drilled and, by 1994, oil was established in 73 structural anomalies. I estimated the total ultimate oil reserves housed in these 73 enclosures to be in the order of 144bn barrels, which is in conformity with published data and the experience of Iraqi experts. With the use of size distribution and varying success ratios, the potential oil reserve was estimated to be in the order of 280bn barrels to 360bn barrels, housed in 143 to 183 structural anomalies.

In a further joint study with CGES on Iraq published in 1997 (Oil Production in the Gulf Volume IV), the Petrolog and Associates team – involving myself and others amongst the most experienced petroleum engineers and geologists – carried out an extensive analysis of Iraq’s exploration potential, taking over three man-years. The proven ultimate oil reserves were estimated at 128bn barrels, housed in 80 fields, of which 124bn barrels were housed in 43 discovered fields. The remaining 37 fields have been discovered but not sufficiently delineated. Each has been assigned only 0.1bn barrels. Iraq’s potential reserves were estimated conservatively to be in excess of 216bn barrels. These are large fields with as much reserves as in some of the discovered fields. The largest eight fields housed some 50bn barrels, compared with 92bn barrels housed in eight discovered fields. Our estimate was based on conservative volumetric calculations, using average porosity, oil shrinkage and a recovery factor not exceeding 31% for the oil reserves recoverable from 224 anomalies, among the total of 440 surface and sub-surface identified anomalies which are sufficiently prospected to be included. The potential proven reserve was estimated at 455bn barrels, to which a success rate of 47.5% was applied (being the average of 70% terminating at 25% at the end of the exploration period), giving 216bn barrels of proven reserves. On the basis of the above results, we endorse estimates of an ultimate proven reserve of 140bn barrels and a potential reserve of 215bn barrels, as reported here.

and


Iraq, like all the major oil producers in the Middle East, has been producing oil reserves at a depletion rate of around 1%. The practice was inherited from the concession era when the multinational majors had the oil reserves to produce multiples of the market demand. The companies then, however, had virtually a monopoly over the oil-integrated operations and in order to maintain a stable crude oil price they had to adopt a low depletion rate. They also had to satisfy all their host countries and hence adopted low depletion rates in each country.

The nationalized era seems to have inherited the practice and took on itself a policy of crude oil stabilization with the aid of OPEC, by regulating production. In the meantime, the multinational oil companies and their partners in the non-OPEC countries had to go into much higher depletion rates in order to enhance payback and return on their investment, particularly, in view of investing in higher cost oil countries.

The 2001 depletion rates of the major producers were: North Sea, 18% (UK) and 8% (Norway); the Russian Federation 5%; North America, 9% (USA), 11% (Canada) and 5% (Mexico).

Adopting a depletion rate for Iraq of 4-5%, which is well within good reservoir management practice for large fields, would permit increasing Iraq’s production rate to a peak of 10mn b/d, maintaining it for nine years and then allowing a natural decline. At the end of 25 years, the production rate would be 6.4mn b/d, but the reserves would have declined to 42bn barrels from its current level.

On the same basis of maintaining a depletion rate of 4-5%, Iraq can lift the 10mn b/d plateau to 12mn b/d, and maintain it for eight years provided that 60bn barrels of additional new discoveries are added. This represents only 28% of the likely potential reserves. The plateau could be maintained for eight years, as new reserves are ploughed in at the rate of 3bn barrels per year starting on the seventh year. By the end of the 25th year, production would have reached 11mn b/d and remaining 88bn barrels.

With the world’s annual incremental increase in consumption in the order of 1mn b/d, it would take Iraq a good many years to require a production capacity as high as 10mn b/d. As a result exploration for new potential could very well be deferred.

Clearly exploration for additional reserves is less of a priority than the most pressing one of restoration and rehabilitation, followed by production capacity growth at rates commensurate with market forces, and Iraq’s need for capital for its economic and social development .



http://earlywarn.blogspot.com/2010/0...-reserves.html




" Iraq's Oil Reserves: Untapped Potential

While its proven oil reserves of 112 billion barrels ranks Iraq second in the work behind Saudi Arabia, EIA estimates that up to 90-percent of the county remains unexplored due to years of wars and sanctions. Unexplored regions of Iraq could yield an additional 100 billion barrels. Iraq's oil production costs are among the lowest in the world. However, only about 2,000 wells have been drilled in Iraq, compared to about 1 million wells in Texas alone. "




http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/w...aairaqioil.htm

[hakz2007]

Iraq exports 57.9 million barrels of oil in Feb

BAGHDAD. March 24. KAZINFORM. Iraqi Oil Ministry said Tuesday Iraq's oil export in February hit 57.9 million barrels, bringing in revenues of $4.229 billion with an average price of $73.04 a barrel; Kazinform refers to Xinhua.

A statement by the ministry obtained by Xinhua said that 45.2 million barrels were exported through the southern port of Basra, and 12.7 million barrels were exported via Turkey's port of Ceyhan on the Mediterranean Sea.

In January, the ministry said the country exported 59.7 million barrels of oil, gaining revenues of $4.416 billion. The decrease in February was because February is three days shorter than January.

Iraq mainly depends on oil revenues as the country has the world's third-largest proven oil reserves estimated at 115 billion barrels, following Saudi Arabia and Iran. It produces roughly 2.5 million barrels a day, mostly for exports;(Kazinform cites Xinhua).

http://www.inform.kz/eng/article/2250954

[sheytanElKebir]

I worked in Iraq for several years (only left a week ago), and in the energy sector there are many projects that have had to be canned due to shortage of water.

The one I'm aware of most acutely is the Kheirat thermal power station to be built on the euphrates tributary between hindiya and Kifl. It was supposed to be a 1200MW oil fired station. but quite simply the river level is too low to supply it with sufficient cooling water (and leave water for the downstream users).

Therefore in Kheirat, the 1200MW thermal station has been replaced by two 125MW gas fired units instead... it is obvious that 250MW is just a tiny fraction of the local requirements... so even when, if, this 250MW station is miraculously completed by the horrendously incompetent local engineers, it will give only a tiny fraction of the real energy requirements for the central euphrates region.

[ardamir]

Originally Posted by sheytanElKebir

I worked in Iraq for several years (only left a week ago), and in the energy sector there are many projects that have had to be canned due to shortage of water.

The one I'm aware of most acutely is the Kheirat thermal power station to be built on the euphrates tributary between hindiya and Kifl. It was supposed to be a 1200MW oil fired station. but quite simply the river level is too low to supply it with sufficient cooling water (and leave water for the downstream users).

Therefore in Kheirat, the 1200MW thermal station has been replaced by two 125MW gas fired units instead... it is obvious that 250MW is just a tiny fraction of the local requirements... so even when, if, this 250MW station is miraculously completed by the horrendously incompetent local engineers, it will give only a tiny fraction of the real energy requirements for the central euphrates region.

Were you an American contractor?

[sheytanElKebir]

I'm iraqi.

[ardamir]

Reason I ask is that my roommate's father worked for KBR (yes, I am American) in Iraq for a couple of years and just recently returned.

Why do you think that the local engineers are incompetent? Is it due to lack of experience, not caring, etc... and how long do you think foreign contractors will remain in Iraq?

[sheytanElKebir]

Iraqi incompetence (not just engineers, all sectors of the economy, administration, education etc...):
-lack of experience
-lack of international experience and perspective
-lack of English knowledge, and little interest in acquiring it
-lack of research skills (Internet).
-corruption and nepotism
-pride and myopia (links in nicely with lack of international exposure/perspective).
-paranoia and a belief in "conspiracies" in lieu of rational thought


your second question, how long will foreign contractors remain in iraq:
most of the infrastructure of iraq was built by foreign contractors between the 1950s-1980s. today most of what you see in iraq was built by those foreigners, with iraqi expertise being generally limited to building simple roads (badly), concrete houses (very badly), and some 4 storey blocks (extremely badly).

everything else:
-hospitals
-roads
-bridges
-ministry buildings
-large hotels
-oil refineries
-factories
-railways
-airports
-seaports
-apartment blocks (more than 3 storeys)

were built by foreign contractors before, and in the future will be built by foreign contractors.

[Soballe]

Hey sheytan might that not be due to the brain drain and the state of the country during those years. It's been happening continuously for decades, it's bound to take a toll on the countrys ability to operate. I mean we're talking about a country that has citezens living in it only because they have no other options. The widespread corruption surely doesnt help matters

[BigDreamer]

not to mention a decade of sanctions.. i personally believe the sanctions were the single most devastating legacy of the previous era. it deprived the country of everything you can possibly think of.. people were left to fend for themselves under a ridiculous economic situation.

Some people already seem to have forgotten the days of hyper-inflation. people were reduced to bartering for the love of god ! seriously, no one in their right mind should expect Iraq to function as a western society only after 7 years of change.. the issues that Sheytan listed require long term solutions.

There are millions of highly educated Iraqis that left (and many are very keen to go back and help out). I'm optimistic about the future. We just need to persever as a nation.

[sheytanElKebir]

The sanctions and "brain drain" are small factors in the above.

The main factor is the fact that Iraq's infrastructure was ALWAYS built by foreign contractors, before any "sanctions" and before any "brain drain". I have seen the new "brain drain" from Iraq and most are not "professionals" by any international standard. Iraq hasn't lost much to be honest.

Iraq will improve when they have a government "acceptable" to arabs + more income from oil to impport foreign contractors to work in Iraq.

I know this may offend "iraqi professionals TM" but after living and working in the gulf, and taking into fact that all of iraq's previous infrastructure was built by foreign companies, there really is very little value to these professionals and their loss is no loss.

the only true losses are:
the incompetence of ministries
their tiny budgets for capital projects,
no laws to protect foreign investors rights
idiosyncratic laws on "return of professionals" that recognises ONLY the work experience gained working in Iraq!! (which conversely is probably the only useless work experience one can have). - imagine a dumbarse who spent 20 years "collecting a salary" in some dusty office in baghdad is worth more than, say, a top Scientist from Stanford! at least according to Iraq's "rules" which are in place to jealously (and fearfully) guard the "positions" of Iraq's internal "professionals". Don't ever come under the impression that the employment of these "professionals" in iraq and the battle over "employment positions" in all sections of the state-economy is anything more than social-security for mostly inept and incompetent "professionals" who would really be hard pressed to get a job as a taxi driver or kebab seller in any "international" standard country.

etc....

[BigDreamer]

I respectfully disagree with you. The brain drain is a major factor, and so were the sanctions. I can't speak on behalf of what you've seen. But from my prospective of the Iraqi communities that I've visited (here, but also UK, Australia , UAE); despite their relatively small population (compared to other minority groups), they are considered high achievers by any standard, and most of whom are first generation migrants. Whether it be finance, medicine, engineering, academia etc. I've personally met many brilliant Iraqis who were coerced for one reason or another to depart their homland. Surely if Iraqis were as incompetent as you described them to be they wouldn't go as far as they have.

I would like to avoid calling you as a "self-hating" Iraqi, even though your post does come across to me that way. Any grievances that you've encountered in Iraq should not be generalised. Obviously the current professional standard in Iraq leaves one with much remorse and at the same time hope for improvement. But there is long series of gross mismanagement of the entire country that has led to this. You were maybe lucky enough to be spared these misfortunes, but many of your fellow men and women were not.

I have a lot on my mind to say about the gulf region regarding the point you bought up, but perhaps a public forum isn't the most appropriate place to discuss this. However, I would like to say that if any of the arab neighbouring countries went through what Iraq has been through, they would be in far worse place than Iraq is now. (I say this as a realistic assessment and not out of arrogance).

[sheytanElKebir]

I think you misunderstood me.

I wasn't talking about the competence of iraqis who lived / studied / worked abroad. I was talking about the iraqis educated / worked in iraq as "professionals". There's no doubt about the competence of iraqis working up to international standards... of course those iraqis could never get a job inside iraq because of the protectionist measures put in place by the ministries in iraq to safeguard the jobs of the local incompetents from both "long term exiles" and foreign expats.

as for comparisons with the gulf region. Forget it. let me just say one thing. show me one decent large scale project that iraqis managed to build on their own in the past 50 years.

the two hilarious ones that come to mind are the "2 storey bridge" and "ma'moun tower". Nuff said. Literally everything was built by foreign contractors when these iraqi "professionals" were in country, before sanctions or any such thing... even simple 4 storey apartment blocks were built by foreign companies, and anything touched by locals is an inevitable catastrophe (see, sewage works, roads and sidewalks that Iraqis "attempted" to make). - as for education and medical care... well in the 1970s and 1980s (the so called "golden era" when all these "professionals" were in iraq and there were no sanctions, all the wealthier people went abroad for both medical care and education - and iraq's medical and educational system relied massively on foreign professionals during those times to boot) - we can go in depth into literally any section of Iraq's economy/society and see that without foreign help we could do nothing... nice examples being the 20,000 workers + $30Bn dolar 10 year attempt to build a nuclear bomb which managed to enrich just a few grammes of uranium for all that expenditure (when iraqis attempted to "go it alone" without the use of foreigners - I bet if they gave the project to an indian management team they would have had nukes for about $500M within 5 years)... etc.. etc...

trying to characterise me as a self-hating iraqi simply won't whitewash the above facts. the sooner we accept them, the sooner we can begin remedying them. otherwise if the above is not true, then we certainly can "rebuild" iraq alone.

unfortunately a lot of this nonsensical myopic views are spouted by iraqis inside iraq (and especially by the "newly expatriated" post 2003 expats, especially regarding the mythical "rebuilding of iraq" post 1991).

Unfortunately if we, as Iraqis, accept the nonsensical assertions of these "professionals" (who failed iraq so miserably over the past 3 decades) we will not end the rut. as long as these "professionals" are in protected jobs (and the ones who got booted to amman/damascus will return with allawi and co soon) will simply continue with the rut. As long as incompetent iraqi contractors and families are allowed to work e.g. bunia, khrabit etc... then iraq's future is well and truly screwed. The solution is not pretty, but the core items are:

-Iraq adopts international standards for all works, and contractors must be accredited INTERNATIONALLY before being allowed any work
-Only engineers with international chartered status should be allowed to work as engineers. i.e. EU / US / Japanese / and other developed nations' chartered schemes. Iraq's own institutes should be DISSOLVED, as they are no measure of quality.
-The constitution changed to enshrine the sanctity of private property from government repossession. both for citizens and foreigners, which can only be changed by a 2/3rds majority in parliament.
-Limit the Military and interior ministry's budget to 3% of GDP, enshrine this in the constitution.
-Allow full participation of foreign investors in iraq's stock market.
-Bring accountability standards up to IFRS standards and all companies must have their internal paperwork and financial statements in English and publicly available on the internet
-Eliminate 70% of all ministries. complete dissolution.
-Change the "rules" for professional appointments to take into account international work experience and to judge professionals according to their INTERNATIONAL standing as opposed to the number of years of service inside Iraq. (hahaha. turkeys voting for christmas this one).
-Open up Iraq's employment market to foreign professionals. get the locals ruffled up with some competition.
-Place all proceeds from oil sales into a development fund. Every single penny. The government bureaucracy should be funded 100% from taxes / rates and government bonds

[BigDreamer]

Originally Posted by sheytanElKebir

I think you misunderstood me.

I wasn't talking about the competence of iraqis who lived / studied / worked abroad. I was talking about the iraqis educated / worked in iraq as "professionals". There's no doubt about the competence of iraqis working up to international standards... of course those iraqis could never get a job inside iraq because of the protectionist measures put in place by the ministries in iraq to safeguard the jobs of the local incompetents from both "long term exiles" and foreign expats.

I was also referring to a large number of Iraqi professionals who were educated and worked in Iraq but left during the 80s and 90s. In my opinion, this was the real brain drain that truly devastated the country.

This discussion reminded me of a case study that was presented to us during a 1st year engineering course about low-tech engineering. The case study described how Iraqi engineers maintained the running of a power plant during the gulf war. I remember the lecturer exclaiming the that Iraqi engineers were so resourceful, they were building home made boilers while the country was still being bombed. At the time I was very ignorant of Iraq industry. but while sitting in that class I felt proud to be Iraqi.

For the last 30 years Iraq has been through catastrophic circumstances. It simply isn't fair to ignore all of this and claim Iraq is in shit because they were incompetent to begin with.

as for comparisons with the gulf region. Forget it. let me just say one thing. show me one decent large scale project that Iraqis managed to build on their own in the past 50 years. the two hilarious ones that come to mind are the "2 storey bridge" and "ma'moun tower". Nuff said. Literally everything was built by foreign contractors when these iraqi "professionals" were in country, before sanctions or any such thing... even simple 4 storey apartment blocks were built by foreign companies, and anything touched by locals is an inevitable catastrophe (see, sewage works, roads and sidewalks that Iraqis "attempted" to make). -

Well yea! after 8 year war with Iran, billions of dollars wasted, and much more in loans.. That's what I meant. the gross mismanagement of pretty much everything during the 80s is what ruined the economy, education, public services. I don't think you realise that "professionals" back then were public servants ! (i.e. low paid slaves !). all decisions were made at the top. and they can be described as moronic at best.

as for education and medical care... well in the 1970s and 1980s (the so called "golden era" when all these "professionals" were in Iraq and there were no sanctions, all the wealthier people went abroad for both medical care and education - and Iraq's medical and educational system relied massively on foreign professionals during those times to boot) -

We had a medical and education systems that was were envy of the middle east during the 70s. International students used to line up for scholarships to get into Baghdad university. My extended family were part of this generation, they were from a fairly average economic background. all of them ended up being professionals, and many left Iraq and pursued their careers elsewhere. this includes 4 engineers, 2 surgeons, 4 scientists (one of whom currently leads a major research group here in NZ with several patents published under his name), and I've had the privilege to meet many highly accomplished individuals from this generation. I strongly contest your argument of 'incompetence'.

we can go in depth into literally any section of Iraq's economy/society and see that without foreign help we could do nothing... nice examples being the 20,000 workers + $30Bn dolar 10 year attempt to build a nuclear bomb which managed to enrich just a few grammes of uranium for all that expenditure... etc.. etc...

Again. these examples only enforce what I meant by the poor governance of the old regime. that's what happens when you have a dictatorship. all rationale is thrown out of the window. did Iraq need a nuclear reactor? would anyone vote for it if they had the choice?

Even Germany and Japan needed foreign help after WWII. There is no shame in that. Iraq needs all the help that it can get. Overtime, many of the problems that you described will be eliminated as long as there is a true free market (which is exactly what I fear about the protectionist attitude that you described, this will make things even worse )

trying to characterise me as a self-hating iraqi simply won't whitewash the above facts. the sooner we accept them, the sooner we can begin remedying them. otherwise if the above is not true, then we certainly can "rebuild" iraq alone.

I apologize if I did offend you by stating that (I did regret saying so after posting and I was about to remove it). I agree with you 100% that we should all be realists and not live in a pretend delusional world where everything goes perfectly. Otherwise how different are we from the old regime?

unfortunately a lot of this nonsensical myopic views are spouted by iraqis inside iraq (and especially by the "newly expatriated" post 2003 expats, especially regarding the mythical "rebuilding of iraq" post 1991).

I'm aware of some of the unsubstantiated touting of the rebuilding effort. especially in some pro-American media. Please don't confuse my views with theirs. Iraq needs alot of work. as far as i'm concerned were still at square one.

[BigDreamer]

sorry I didn't see you're last edit before my reply

[sheytanElKebir]

perhaps the last few posts can be copied and pasted into a new thread called "rebuilding iraq problems and solutions..." since its kind of off topic to the main topic of this thread.

MODS?

[hakz2007]

IRAQ HAS ABILITY TO MEET GLOBAL DEMAND FORCRUDE OIL -- OIL MINISTER

KUALA LUMPUR, June 8 (NNN-BERNAMA) -- Iraq, with the world's fifth largest provel oil reserves, has the ability to meet the global demand for crude oil, says Oil Minister Dr Hussain Al-Shahristani.

However, he stresses that Iraq is only going produce what is needed by the market. "We are not going to flood the market and influence the price in any negative way," he said on the sidelines of the 15th Asia Oil and Gas Conference here Monday.

"Our projection for the coming two decades is that the world would be requiring additional oil. There is no other source that can replace oil in any significant way," he told a media conference.

According to Al-Shahristani, there is not much oil available in other parts of the world. "So, we think any additional demand for oil, particularly from Asian markets, will be met by Iraq," he said.

Iraq's current projection for its oil production is about 2.5 million barrels per day. The country, which has proven resources of 115 billion barrels of oil, expects to add another 150,000 barrels per day in output by the end of this year and another 200,000 to 250,000 barrels daily next year.

Al-Shahristani said Iraq would open another round of bid for a major gas exploration project in September.

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