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Fragile Iraqi Government Faces Sunni Demands for Reforms

BAGHDAD—Iraq’s fragile new government, forged under substantial U.S. pressure, could break apart if it fails to quickly meet the demands of the restive Sunni minority, representatives of the group said Tuesday. The disgruntled Sunni and Kurdish minorities have reluctantly thrown their support behind Shiite Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, whose cabinet was approved by parliament late Monday. The slate of ministers has drawn the loudest protests from local leaders in Sunni-majority provinces now occupied by the extremist group Islamic State. These leaders, many of whom the Obama administration hopes to bring on side to confront the insurgents, said they would offer little support to Baghdad unless the new government makes real changes. Among their demands are the release of thousands of Sunni prisoners held on terror charges that human-rights groups said are dubious; the repeal of laws barring supporters of the Saddam Hussein regime from politics; and greater representation in […]

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Official: Fighting in Iraq delays Iran gas exports

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s oil minister says the fighting between Iraqi troops and Islamic State militants will delay the planned start of natural gas exports to neighboring Iraq. Bijan Zanganeh is quoted on the ministry’s official website on Wednesday as saying that the "upheaval in Iraq is postponing the exports." The pipeline, which is still under construction on the Iraqi side, goes partly through territory controlled by the Islamic State group. Pipeline workers, mainly Iranians, have come under attack several times, especially in Diyala province, which has disrupted work. It’s unclear when the new gas pipeline will be finished or when it will go on line. Under a 2012 agreement, Iran was to start exporting gas to Iraq in 2014 through the new pipeline, which is to feed three power plants in Iraq.

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Iraqi Parliament Approves New Cabinet

BAGHDAD—Iraq’s Parliament approved a new cabinet of ministers on Monday, ending a monthslong drama to select a new leadership only days before U.S. President Barack Obama lays out his strategy to confront the Sunni Islamist insurrection consuming the country. The strength of the insurgency was on full display Monday morning, when militants from the Islamic State killed 20 people, mostly Sunni tribal fighters who opposed the group, when they detonated two car bombs in the town of Dhuluiya, about 50 miles north of Baghdad. The Iraqi parliament’s support for the new cabinet will allow Mr. Obama to tell leaders in Congress and the American public that his plan for expanded U.S. airstrikes in Iraq will be supported by an inclusive new government in Baghdad. Yet despite the appearance of a broad-based agreement, Monday’s vote followed days of last-minute wrangling that laid bare the profound ethnic and sectarian differences that […]

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Abdulmahdi becomes Oil Minister in tenuous new government

You are here: Home » Politics » National Politics » Abdulmahdi becomes Oil Minister in tenuous new government Abdulmahdi becomes Oil Minister in tenuous new government (From Right to Left) Iraqi deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlak, Deputy Prime Minister Baha al-Araji, Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, Planning Minister Salman al-Jumaili and Oil Minister Adel Abdul-Mehdi sit after being approved during a parliamentary session to vote on Iraq’s new cabinet on Sept. 8, 2014. [AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images] The new Iraqi government, approved by Parliament on Monday, has a nominally inclusive government led by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, though it is already straining for support among the country’s Kurdish and Sunni minorities. Former Iraqi Vice President Adil Abdulmahdi became the new Oil Minister on Monday. Former Oil Minister and Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Hussain al-Shahristani now has the Higher Education portfolio. Nouri al-Maliki, prime minister for the past eight years, is… […]

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Iran-Iraq gas pipeline completed

Iranian natural gas is reaching an Iraqi power plant though a now-completed cross-border pipeline, an Iraqi official said. Alireza Gharibi, managing director of the Iranian Gas Engineering and Development Co., said last month water was sent through a 60-mile pipeline crossing the Iranian border into Iraq as part of an initial testing process. An Iraqi official told Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency on condition of anonymity the pipeline was now feeding gas across the border to a gas-fed power plant in Diyala province. "Iran’s gas will be fed into al-Mansurya power plant once the pre-startup tests on the pipeline (built to transport natural gas to Iraq) are complete," the source said Sunday. The pipeline is designed to export 176 million cubic feet of natural gas per day from Iran’s offshore South Pars field. Iraq, for its part, has struggled to ensure around-the-clock electricity despite its vast natural resource wealth. […]

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Oil companies bring staff back to Iraq

British energy company Genel Energy said Monday it started returning staff to the Kurdish north of Iraq following improvements in the security situation. "Genel’s primary consideration is the safety and wellbeing of our employees," the company said in a statement. "The decision to resume full operations has been made following a close monitoring of the situation, and in consultation with the Kurdistan Regional Government, Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the British Government, and other well-placed authorities." As U.S. airstrikes targeting terrorists with the Islamic State got under way in August, the company said it was taking the "prudent and precautionary step" of pulling non-essential staff from the Kurdish north. The company said operations at the Taq Taq and Tawke oil fields in the Kurdish region of Iraq were safe and secure . Production from the two fields is unaffected by the violence and combined production is on a record […]

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Iraq files claim against Greek oil shipper

The Iraqi Oil Ministry said it started legal proceedings in a Greek court against Marine Management Services, which operates five vessels, including United Kalavrvta, en route to a port in Galveston, Texas. "Marine Management Services is liable for damages of at least $318 million, and possibly significantly more, as a result of its willing and active participation in the Kurdistan Regional Government’s illegal crude oil export scheme," the ministry said. The Iraqi and semiautonomous Kurdish governments have been involved in tit-for-tat legal proceedings in U.S. courts over the 1 million barrels of oil loaded onto United Kalavrvta. The U.S. government said the destination of crude oil is a commercial matter, but sided with Baghdad’s claims that it’s the sole entity in charge of oil exports. Both Iraqi governments make competing claims over the legality of exports . Baghdad accused Marine Management Services of turning off ship transponders to avoid […]

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Iraqi parliament approves new government headed by Haider al-Abadi

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – The Iraqi parliament approved a new government headed by Haider Abadi as prime minister on Monday night. No interior or defense minister was named but Abadi pledged to do so within a week. Adel Abdel Mehdi from the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq was named oil minister while Ibrahim Jafaari, a former premier, was named foreign minister. His deputy prime ministers were named as Hoshiyar Zebari, a Kurd and Iraq’s only post-Saddam Hussein foreign minister, and Saleh Mutlaq, a secular Sunni Muslim who served in the same position in the last government. The parliament approved for the ceremonial posts of vice presidents the last prime minister Nuri al-Maliki, former premier Iyad Allawi, a secular Shi’ite, and the last parliament speaker Usama al-Nujaifi. The three have been seen as political rivals. Abadi, like Maliki from the Shi’ite Islamist Dawa party, pledged to mend Baghdad’s relations with Iraqi […]

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Iran-Iraq Gas Pipeline Complete

"Iran’s gas will be fed into Al-Mansoureh power plant once the pre-startup tests on the pipeline (built to transport natural gas to Iraq) are complete," an informed Iraqi source, who asked to remain unnamed, told FNA on Saturday. He said the supply of Iranian gas supplies should have already started, and explained that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) terrorist operations have caused the delay. "We will be able to receive Iran’s gas more safely due to the efforts of the (Iraqi) armed forces to get rid of the ISIL," he added. Iran has agreed to export 25 million cubic meters (mcm) per day of gas to Iraq. The 270-kilometer pipeline stretches from the village of Charmaleh, located in Iran’s Western province of Kermanshah, into the town of Naft Shahr on the border with Iraq. The pipeline, which is estimated to earn Iran USD 3.7 billion […]

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Genel Energy Returns Workers to Kurdistan on Improved Security

Genel Energy Plc (GENL) , the largest oil producer in Iraqi Kurdistan, is returning workers to the region’s fields after security improved. “The decision to resume full operations has been made following a close monitoring of the situation,” the London-based company said today in a statement. Genel, which removed inessential personnel from non-producing assets in August, said output wasn’t affected and it had been pumping about 234,000 barrels of oil a day from its fields. The U.S. expanded its air strikes against Islamic State militants, while President Barack Obama plans to rally Sunni Arab states to help him defeat the insurgents. Kurdistan explorers including Oryx Petroleum Corp. and ShaMaran Petroleum Corp. have also resumed operations in the region To contact the reporter on this story: Eduard Gismatullin in London at [email protected] To contact the editors responsible for this story: Will Kennedy at [email protected] Tony Barrett

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