Iraq Reconstruction News 21 March 2007

Iraq Reconstruction News
21 March 2007


1. Brookings Iraq Index 19 March 2007 http://www3.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf

2. Iraq Weekly Status Report 14 March 2007 http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/81911.pdf

3. GRD Iraq Reconstruction Report 20 march 2007 http://www.grd.usace.army.mil/news/releases/20070320.pdf

4. Inspectors general probe fraud, profiteering in Iraq -- CongressDaily -- The special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction told a Senate panel Tuesday that corruption is widespread in the Iraq government and among U.S. contractors. "First, corruption in Iraq has been -- and is -- a problem of great enormity within Iraq's government," Stuart Bowen told the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Commissioner of Public Integrity, the Iraqi equivalent of the FBI, has reported to Bowen that it is investigating 2,000 cases involving Iraqi officials and $8 billion in missing funds. http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0307/032007cdpm1.htm

5. Defense vows crackdown on fraud in Iraq -- WASHINGTON - Defense Department investigators said Tuesday they are going to be more aggressive suspending or barring companies from doing U.S. contract work in Iraq if they are involved in war profiteering there. Stuart Bowen, special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, said taking such action is an effective tool, particularly when auditors are struggling to come up with enough detailed evidence for criminal prosecutions.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070321/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_iraq_fraud_7;_ylt=AlOZA8WcgVE_CcLWqU8SpKNX6GMA

6. Addax, Genel Enerji to Spend $120M on Iraq Oilfield Plans -- Addax Petroleum Corp.,(AXC.T) a Toronto Stock Exchange-listed oil company, and its Turkish joint venture partner Genel Enerji A.S. will spend as much as $120 million on exploring and developing an onshore oilfield in Iraqi Kurdistan that could produce 200,000 barrels a day of crude oil by 2009, a company official said Tuesday. Addax and Genel Enerji, which have set up a 45:55 joint venture called Taq Taq Operating Co., or TTOPCO, to operate in Iraq, will complete drilling of a third appraisal well in the Taq Taq development area in the country's north by early April, Addax asset manager Pradeep Kabra told Dow Jones Newswires on the sidelines of a Dubai conference. http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=42772

7. Moscow Hopes Iraq Oil Law Will Let Russian Firms In - 19/03/2007 - MOSCOW, (Reuters) - Russia, worried its firms may be frozen out of oil deals in Iraq, said on Monday it hoped a draft law regulating how Iraq's oil wealth is distributed will ensure Russian companies do not suffer discrimination. Moscow opposed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. It is concerned that when the Iraqi government starts handing out new concessions, Russian companies will lose out to firms from countries that backed the military operation. http://aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=6&id=8361

8. Mutual benefit should unite Turkey with N. Iraq -- ARBIL – Turkish Daily News -- It is impossible to establish a strategic partnership between Turkey and the Kurds without basing the relations on mutual benefit and a common future, not on reciprocal nationalist slogans that poison relations. When considered from this angle, oil becomes a crucial ingredient. http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=68649

9. Iraq invites foreign firms to take part in oil tender - Azzaman - Iraq has issued a tender to drill 50 new oil wells in the southern Province of Missan. The director of the province’s oil fields, Ali al-Bahadli, said 13 foreign firms have been invited to take part in the tender aimed at boosting output by an additional 100,000 barrels a day. The Province of Missan is home to some of the largest hitherto unexplored Iraqi oil fields. http://www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?fname=news%5C2007-03-18%5Ckurd1.htm

10. Iraq aims to produce 3.5 million barrel a day in 2011 -- Iraq says it wants to increase its production of crude oil to 3.5 million barrels per day by the year 2011, according to a reconstruction plan broadcasted in the United Nations on Friday. According to the plan, this will increase, by almost three times, Iraq’s proceeds from the export of crude oil to about $ 50 billion. http://www.iraqdirectory.com/DisplayNews.aspx?id=3453

11. Oil output still hovering at 2 million barrels daily -- Azzaman -- Iraq is currently producing about 2 million barrels of oil a day but hopes to increase output to nearly 3 million in the future. A statement on the website of Government Information Department said Iraqi engineering and technical corps had ‘ambitious plans’ to substantially boost oil production. The statement gave no details of these plans nor said when the country would manage to raise production by another million barrels. http://www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?fname=news\2007-03-17\kurd.htm

12. Syria and Iraq sign Memo of Understanding on Electrical Power -- DAMASCUS, (SANA)-Syrian and Iraqi electricity ministries on Sunday signed a memo of understanding on a number of joint issues in the field of electrical power investment, distribution and connection. The memo states that both ministries study executive programs of electrical power linkage between the two countries' nets within the septet linkage system, it is expected that power linkage between Syria and Iraq be implemented next year. http://www.sana.org/eng/24/2007/03/18/108485.htm

13. Iraqi Planning Minister Courts Arab-American Investment - Washington – Iraqi Planning Minister Ali Baban urged Arab-American business leaders to seek economic opportunities in Iraq and said his government is working to make the country a stable environment for investment. “Any commercial or economic operation depends on stability, and this is the focus of the Iraqi government right now,” Baban told members of the National U.S.-Arab Chamber of Commerce in Washington March 15. http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2007&m=March&x=20070315164115ndyblehs0.149914

14. INTERNATIONAL RECONSTRUCTION FUND FACILITY MOVES FORWARD FOLLOWING PRODUCTIVE DONOR COMMITTEE MEETING -- ISTANBUL, Turkey, March 20, 2007—The International Reconstruction Fund Facility for Iraq (IRFFI) Donor Committee Meeting concluded successfully today, with strong resolve from the international donor community, the United Nations and the World Bank to continue advancing Iraqi leadership on reconstruction efforts. They reaffirmed their support for IRFFI, which should remain an important vehicle for donors to support the implementation of the International Compact with Iraq. http://uniraq.org/

15. Business as 'Normal' in Baghdad's Markets - Weekend Edition Saturday, March 17, 2007 · Ken Stern, NPR's chief executive officer, visited Iraq this month to check on NPR's Baghdad bureau. Following is an entry from his Reporter's Notebook.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=8957798

16. CEC starts third year of Rebuild Iraq Recruitment Program (RIRP) - The third year after the beginning of the RIRP program shows that, the need for European companies to position themselves in the competitive environment in Iraq is more important than ever.
http://www.iraqdirectory.com/DisplayNews.aspx?id=3332

17. "Iraqi List" Deputy Bashes Draft Oil Law. Opposition MP Warns Against Passage until Occupation Ends -- The draft oil and gas law could lead to the “partition of Iraq” and the dissipation of its wealth, said Usama al-Najifi, former minister of industry and current member of parliament in the opposition Iraqi National List. Najifi said, “The oil law project in the form as sent to parliament is very dangerous, and in it is the partition of Iraq and the dissipation of its riches” http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/1900/Iraqi_List_Deputy_Bashes_Draft_Oil_Law

18. Rice: Number of provincial construction teams in Iraq will be doubled -- WASHINGTON — State Department officials will double the number of provincial reconstruction teams in Iraq and recruit more than 300 civilians to help man them in an effort to help stabilize that country, the secretary of state announced Tuesday. “We are transitioning our role,” Condoleezza Rice told members of the Senate Appropriations Committee. “This is to help Iraqis build their own democratic institutions and lead their own economic development at the provincial and local levels.” http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=43947

19. Iraq, Syria to sign economical accord http://www.menafn.com/qn_news_story_s.asp?StoryId=1093146195

20. Price Check: Baghdad Green Zone Burger King http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/topic/58

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