Mediaboss Marketing

Oil flows out of Iraq suggest that the Middle East country is complying, at least in part, with OPECs plan to curb production.

Observed shipments in January were 109,000 barrels a day below Octobers level,the month used as a baseline for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries reductions plan. That indicates that Iraq has implemented around half of the production cut it agreed as part of the accord, assuming flows provide an indication of output.

Shipments from OPECs second-largest producer fell to 3.805 million barrels a day in January from Decembers 4.03 million, tanker-tracking data and port agent reports showed, with the decline mainly reflecting a 6.5 percent drop in flows from the southern port of Basra.

The Iraqis are making the bulk of their cuts at southern fields, said Robin Mills, chief executive officer of Dubai-based consultant Qamar Energy, who advises clients working in the region. Most of the decline is coming in the south because the Iraqis have moved forward some of the maintenance on fields there. The Kurds havent been cutting and I dont expect them to cut at all.

OPEC and 11 other producing countries including Russia agreed late last year to cut a combined 1.8 million barrels a day of output starting from January, with Iraqs share set at 210,000 barrels. Some analysts expressed doubts that Iraq would deliver its share of the cuts, potentially undermining the drive to rebalance the market and drain inventories bloated by two years of unfettered production that helped to crash prices.

During the months of negotiation that led to Novembers OPEC agreement, Iraq had insisted repeatedly that it should be exempted from cuts as it battles the Islamic State insurgency and rehabilitates its oil industry after years of war and sanctions. The country also disputed the data to be used in any discussions, insisting that numbers compiled by OPEC underestimated Iraqi production by about 5 percent. Iraq ultimately relented, agreeing to reduce its output.

The most important business stories of the day.

Get Bloomberg's daily newsletter.

Adherence to the deal is great and OPEC probably wont need to extend the accord when it expires in the middle of the year, Saudi Arabia Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih said on Jan. 22 when countries met in Vienna to discuss monitoring implementation.

Iraq was close to implementing its share of the agreed production cuts and would be in full compliance by the end of the month, Oil Minister Jabbar Al-Luaibi said Jan. 23. The Middle Eastern producer had already reduced output by 180,000 barrels a day and would cut another 30,000 soon, Al-Luaibi said in a Bloomberg television interview.

While 90 percent of the output cuts have come from fields operated by companies run by Iraqs federal government, Baghdad is also coordinating reductions with the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan and international oil companies, he said.

Iraq saw lower shipments from both Basra and from the Ceyhan terminal in Turkey, from where it exports crude originating in the Kurdish region and from Baghdad-controlled fields around Kirkuk, according to the ship-tracking data.

Exports from Basra averaged 3.235 million barrels a day in January, down from a record 3.46 million in December, the data showed. Exports of Kurdish crude, and oil from Iraqs northern fields through Ceyhan, fell to about 569,000 barrels a day from 572,000 barrels in December.

See the original post:
Iraq Plays Ball With OPEC as Tanker Tracking Shows Flows Are Cut - Bloomberg

In 2004, the government of prime minister Dr. Manmohan Singh faced a difficult challenge when three Indian truckers were kidnapped in Iraq. The crisis was unlike any that India had witnessed before. Seven truckers consisting of three Indians, three Kenyans and one Egyptian were driving from Kuwait carrying non-lethal military-grade radio equipment for U.S. forces who had invaded Iraq a year ago.

The truckers reached Fallujah and asked for directions when the anti-U.S. fighters took them hostage on finding out that the trucks belonged to a Kuwaiti company that was supporting US invasion of Iraq.

Dr. Singhs government had taken charge in May, and the crisis began on 1 July. Given the situation in Iraq, especially in Fallujah, there was slim chance for the hostages to survive. Iraq had turned lawless after the 2003 invasion by the U.S.-led forces and Fallujah had emerged as a key centre for insurgents one of whom was the dreaded Abu Musav Al Zarqawi. Dr. Singh summoned E. Ahamed, then minister of state for external affairs to set up a team to rescue the truckers.

In the Prime Ministers office, Ahamed set up a special cell to monitor the situation. He summoned Indias ambassador to Oman, Talmiz Ahmad to Delhi and sent him to Baghdad along with Dr. Zikrur Rahman, diplomat and scholar of Arabic.

This team reached Baghdad on 1 August and began negotiation with a person nominated by the hostage takers. "We found that the kidnappers were not against India at all. They were in fact against Kuwait and the United States. Ahamed said that India should take care of all the hostages and not just the three Indians," said Talmiz Ahmad speaking to The Hindu from Dubai.

Kenya did not have a mission in Baghdad as the war had forced many countries to shut embassies in Iraq. "The hostage takers had demanded $20 million as ransom. But we said that it is not the policy of India to pay ransom as this would set up a wrong precedent," said Talmiz Ahmad recounting that finally the Kuwaitis paid a total of 300,000 USD as ransom to free the drivers.

Throughout the operation, E. Ahamed gave directions to his team in Baghdad and also set up meetings with Iraqi clerics. "Ahamed had local contacts especially among the clerics in Iraq who had a great deal of influence in the country and it was with the help of the clerics that we were able to bring back the truckers after weeks of negotiation," said Dr. Zikrur Rahman, former diplomat and academic.

The task of networking in Iraq was particularly difficult as for years the country was under the rule of Saddam Hussein who did not allow clerics to prosper. "He had an ability to strike a chord with the locals wherever he went and used these contacts to help Indians whenever they faced crisis," Dr. Rahman said.

After a month, the hostages were released and brought to the Indian embassy in Baghdad where they had lunch and were flown out to Kuwait. The three Indians reached home safely. "He truly cared about the under class of India who contribute most of the six million strong workers in the Gulf region," Talmiz Ahmad said.

E. Ahamed became a member of the Lok Sabha in 1991 but his focus always remained the welfare of Indians employed in West Asian and North African (WANA) region. This connection was first highlighted during the premiership of P.V. Narasimha Rao. To deal with a hostage crisis in Libya in the early 1990s, Rao sought Ahameds help in ensuring safety of the Indians in Libya which was at that time ruled by Muammar Gaddafi. Ahamed who had come into the 10th Lok Sabha in 1991 soon became known for his widespread contacts in the Gulf region. "His concern and affection was not just for people from Kerala but for all sections of Indians who work in the Gulf and North Africa," said Talmiz Ahmad.

Read more here:
Diplomats recall E. Ahamed's role in 2004 rescue operation in Iraq - The Hindu

Ten days ago, Adil Kheder Nimr and his wife, Shatha Sulaiman Kheder, arrived in a place they call paradise. As the plane came into land in Seattle over the glistening waters of the Puget Sound, after a long journey from Iraq, he only had one thought: Now well be safe. My son will have a future. The US is my country now.

On his lap he held that son, a happy child with a tousle of black hair who had been born in a refugee camp 10 months previously. They named him Steven. Years earlier, Nimr had decided that if he ever had a son he would call him that. I like American names and I always wanted to live in the US.

On their necks, Nimr and his wife wore necklaces with little metal crosses. They are not Christians, they are Yazidis, an ethnically Kurdish people who follow a monotheistic religion all its own. But they carried the symbol of the Christian faith as a sign of respect for their adoptive country.

They showed reverence, too, for the new leader of their new home, who just a day after their plane hit the Seattle asphalt would become president of the United States. Donald Trump is my president, Nimr said, raising his hand to his head in salute. I respect him. He is a strong man of North America.

Nimr wasnt to know just how apposite that choice of words was. They arrived in Seattle on 19 January. Trumps inauguration took place the following day and exactly a week after that, the strong man of North America signed an executive order that would ban all incoming refugees from Iraq from entering the US for at least 120 days.

Among those left stranded on the wrong side of the ban were 13 other members of Nimrs family, including his parents, sisters and brother. Though they have all been granted security clearance, and had dates scheduled to fly to Seattle, they are now in limbo.

Trump has rationalized his immigration ban on the grounds of fighting Isis. Which sounds strange to Nimr, because he and his family were themselves victims of the terrorist group.

In the eyes of the jihadist fighters of Islamic State, Yazidis are the lowest of the low. They dont see us as human, they say we are infidel, he said, running his fingers across his neck like a sword.

Isis think its a prize if they catch a Yazidi. They will show us no mercy, they will do anything to us.

In addition to their ethnicity and religion, there was another problem. Nimrs father worked as a translator for the US army in Iraq. As Isis grew in strength in the region, many interpreters, denounced as collaborators, were targeted for car bombings and assassinations.

Nimrs father began to receive regular death threats and on one occasion narrowly escaped kidnapping. Notes would be passed to him saying: You are a spy for the United States, you work for the infidels.

In August 2014, the issue came to a head. Their town of Shekhan came under Isis attack and the 27-year-old couple were forced to flee north leaving their jobs hers as a hairdresser, his in an internet shop their home and their extended family.

It was about three in the morning, Nimr said. We awoke to the sound of bullets. No one knew what was happening. We just ran. A lot of families left loved ones behind babies, elders they had to save their own lives.

One of Nimrs uncles, who was physically unable to get away, has not been heard of since.

Nimr and his family found safe haven in a refugee camp in Kurdistan. From there they were offered a lifeline by the International Rescue Committee (IRC), one of Americas largest refugee resettlement groups, which has helped 20,000 people make new lives for themselves in Seattle over the past 40 years.

While Trump has presented an image of refugees as being potential conduits of terrorism into the US, the profile of the typical person helped by IRC tells a very different story. Of the 771 who were resettled by the organization in Seattle last year, 70% were women and children, and 200 have gone on to become US citizens.

IRC had anticipated before Trumps ban came down that nationally about a quarter of the people it would be relocating to the US from Iraq and Afghanistan this year would be former translators for US forces who, like Nimrs father, had faced death threats from the terrorists.

Nimr talked to the Guardian through an interpreter in a mixture of Kurdish and Arabic, sitting in an apartment provided to the family by IRC in the suburbs of Seattle. The space is virtually bare, as they are in the process of moving again.

Trumps immigration ban means there is little chance that Nimr will be joined by the rest of his family any time soon. So they are being relocated by IRC to a smaller apartment.

Despite the transience of the accommodation, the family remains overjoyed to be here. Im so happy Im in the United States, Nimr said. I can go outside now, walk in the street, go shopping. I feel so safe and confident here. Back in Iraq I was too scared to go outside you never knew what was going to happen.

But he is agitated. When asked simple questions, such as what he thinks about American television, he is unable to answer, turning his responses always back to the refugee camp in northern Iraq where his parents continue to struggle.

Theres not enough food there, no heating or electricity, or clean water to drink. They dont care for the people in the camp. Im so worried about my family there.

Trumps executive order has left Nimr deeply confused. On the one hand he is overwhelmingly grateful towards his new country and its new president, and why not? They share a visceral hatred of Isis, which destroyed his life.

I am so happy Donald Trump is my president, he said, saluting again. He can protect the United States from terrorism.

But whats happening now doesnt make any sense to him. Iraqi people are victims of terrorism, too. We didnt fight the US. There are good people over there like my father who worked hard for the US army. They must be separated from the bad people or else they will die.

Asked what he would do were he to have a face-to-face audience with Trump in the White House, Nimr said: I would kneel before him, and kiss his hand, he said. He is my president. But then I would ask him, very politely: please sir, would you think again?

Continued here:
Iraq refugees in Seattle have message for Donald Trump: 'Please think again' - The Guardian

John Allen, a retired Marine Corps general who led the international coalition to counter the Islamic State from 2014 to 2015, and Michael OHanlon are senior fellows at the Brookings Institution.

Though he campaigned with the urgent goal of defeating the Islamic State and reasserting American greatness, President Trump has embarked on a policy that could in fact lead to the loss of U.S. influence in Iraq and the worsening of the Sunni-Shiite divide there. Whatever happens in the short term in the fight to liberate Mosul and other parts of the country from the Islamic State, this policy could lay the groundwork for the emergence of another similar Salafist group there. Trump would have taken us backward, not forward, in the fight against terrorism and seriously eroded our role in a key Arab state that so many Americans gave so much to free and then to help stabilize under two presidents.

The immediate cause of our concern is the executive order Friday that prevented the movement of most Iraqis to the United States including some who served and sacrificed alongside U.S. forces in the war there along with citizens of six other nations in the region. But in fact the problem is broader and deeper.

First, there were the frequent whiffs of Islamophobia from the Trump campaign and national security adviser Michael Flynns harsh critiques of Islam. Both Trump and Flynn are using more moderate rhetoric now and the more moderate words may in fact reflect their true attitudes. Certainly, in working with Flynn over the years, neither of us saw Islamophobia in his thinking when he was in uniform. Indeed, his measured analysis of the Salafist threat made important contributions to the defeat of al-Qaeda in Iraq and in our operations against the Taliban. But the harsher words from the campaign, and Flynns book, are widely known. They help to create a highly combustible atmosphere in which new decisions such as last weeks executive order will be interpreted. This bell cannot be unrung without determined outreach by the White House to Muslims in the United States and around the world.

Second was Trump resurfacing his position last week that the United States should seize Iraqi oil because it underwrote the Islamic States war-making capabilities. He is apparently tone-deaf to the global reaction to this kind of to the victor goes the spoils talk, much less the Iraqi reaction.

Moreover, on the specifics of the argument, Trump is incorrect. Iraqi oil fields contributed almost nothing to the Islamic States revenue stream, as the vast majority of oil-related funds have come from Syrian fields, and in particular sales of oil back to the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Moreover, pillage (this is the legal term for it) of Iraqi oil is simply illegal under international law. Last week, Iraqis were furious over this repeated call by Trump, with some even girding themselves to fight to defend their sovereign natural resource. If Trump decided to literally seize the oil, the U.S. troop requirements would be more akin to the large Iraq and Afghanistan operations of years past than the much more sustainable troop levels that characterize our Mideast presence today. One thing such a mission would likely manage to do, beyond utterly inflaming the region, is unite Iraqis in a common cause heretofore elusive: Wed be fighting Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds all at once.

Then comes the executive order itself. Trumps travel ban was responded to over the weekend by the Iraqi parliament, many of its members already upset by Trumps proposed shift of the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The presence of our 6,000 troops helping Iraqi forces in the fight against the Islamic State could be imperiled.

U.S. officials report that Trumps travel ban and his call for seizing the oil fields have severely undercut the credibility of Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and could cause his government to fall. There is no telling what could come after Abadi, but with the critical Mosul battle reaching the final furlong, Iraqi Shiite leaders may decide they can clear all that remains of the Islamic State from Iraq without U.S. help, leaning instead on Iran and Russia as theyve seen occur in Syria. This may not work. Even if it does, it is exactly what many of the Shiite Iraqi nationalists have wanted all along. A tactical success against the Islamic State could, as noted, immediately begin to sow the ground for the return of a future extremist, Salafist force given the likely resentment among Sunnis that would ensue.

It does not end there. Iran also says it will retaliate against the United States for the travel ban. At a practical level, this could easily play out in Iran simply unleashing the extremist Shiite militias to attack Americans in Iraq.

At the very moment that Trump has sought to up the game against the Islamic State, his words and actions treat Iraq and Iraqis as though theyre irrelevant to the defeat of this organization. Indeed, the worst blows potentially preventing the defeat of the Islamic State have been landed by Trump himself and could lead to the end of the U.S. mission and American influence there. For all the ups and downs in Iraq over the past 14 years, we do currently have a friendly government of national unity (more or less) in Iraq right now, and it is controlling most of its own territory against various extremist forces while gradually restoring stability to the nation. All of that is now at new acute risk not from the Islamic State, Syria or Moscow, but from Washington.

Continued here:
Trump is recklessly reversing Americans' progress in Iraq - Washington Post

WASHINGTON (AP) The Latest on President Donald Trump, his travel ban on seven Muslim-majority countries and other immigration actions (all times local):

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is calling on President Donald Trump to lift his ban on travelers from seven predominantly Muslim countries "as soon as possible."

Guterres said Tuesday that countries have the right to avoid infiltration of terrorist organizations but not based on discrimination related to religion, ethnicity, or a person's nationality.

Guterres warned that "blind measures, not based on solid intelligence, tend to be ineffective as they risk being bypassed by what are today sophisticated global terrorist movements."

He also said such discrimination is against "fundamental principles and values" and "triggers widespread anxiety and anger" that may spur extremist propaganda.

Guterres expressed concern that refugees fleeing conflict and persecution are finding more borders closing, in violation of the protection they are entitled to under international refugee law

Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly is denying reports that he was not given details of President Donald Trump's executive order on immigration until around the time Trump signed it.

Kelly told reporters he looked at two drafts of the order before the Friday signing and that high-level government lawyers and agency officials were involved in drafting it.

He also said he knew it was coming because Trump had long talked about it as a presidential candidate.

Trump's order temporarily halted the U.S. refugee program and banned entries from citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries for 90 days.

People who know Kelly told The Associated Press that he was not aware of the details in the directive until around the time that Trump signed it.

A senior U.S. official says 872 refugees will be allowed into the United States this week despite the Trump administration executive order suspending the U.S. refugees program.

Kevin McAleenan, acting commissioner of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency, said these refugees would be granted waivers. He said that was allowed for under the order, in instances where refugees were ready for travel and stopping them would cause "undue hardship."

McAleenan said this was being done in concert with the State Department. He said 872 refugees will be arriving this week and will processed for waivers through the end of the week.

He was speaking at a news conference Tuesday about the administration's new immigration restrictions, which also suspends arrival by nationals from seven predominantly Muslim nations.

Iraq's prime minister says a travel ban ordered by U.S. President Donald Trump is an "offense to Iraq," but that he won't take retaliatory measures.

An executive order signed over the weekend temporarily prevents the entry of citizens of Iraq and six other Muslim-majority countries. The new U.S. administration says it is necessary to keep out potential terrorists until security procedures can be improved.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi told a news conference Tuesday that he hopes the order will be changed.

He said the U.S. should be grateful to Iraq because of its "sacrifices in fighting terrorism," but that "the way the order was issued was not good, and I don't want to cause the same offense to the American people."

U.S.-backed Iraqi forces have been battling the Islamic State group for more than two years, and are currently trying to drive the extremists from Mosul, the country's second-largest city.

The U.S. Embassy in Israel says Israelis born in the seven Muslim-majority countries under a travel ban ordered by President Donald Trump can still travel to the United States under certain conditions.

A message posted on the embassy website on Tuesday says Israeli passport holders born in Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, or Yemen who do not have a valid passport from their birth country can travel to the U.S. under a valid visa.

The embassy says it's continuing to process visa applications from Israelis born in those countries who don't have a passport from one of the seven countries or have not "declared themselves to be a national of one of those countries."

Hundreds of thousands of Jews born in countries in the Middle East and North Africa settled in Israel after the country's establishment in 1948. Many were automatically stripped of their citizenship by those countries when they left.

It is rare for Israelis to be dual nationals of one of the seven countries and the U.S. Embassy did not specifically say what happens to Israelis who carry a second passport from one of the countries under Trump's ban.

The executive order Trump issued caused confusion among Israelis born in countries affected by the travel ban.

France's prime minister is criticizing U.S. President Donald Trump's three-month immigration ban on refugees from Muslim countries as being useless in the fight against terrorism.

Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said Tuesday that Trump's decision "only aims at exacerbating tensions, creating potential conflicts" and "in the end, the greatest inefficiency regarding results in the fight against terrorism."

Cazeneuve, who was interior minister in 2015 and 2016 when deadly terror attacks were carried out by Islamic extremists in France, said the government reinforced its counterterrorism law and boosted security forces while preserving "national unity" and the values of the country.

He says the U.S. ban "is useless because it ostracizes some countries" and "makes it impossible to welcome people who are persecuted in their country and need protection from free nations."

The Netherlands' firebrand anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders has clashed in Parliament with the Dutch foreign minister over U.S. President Donald Trump's travel ban for people from seven Muslim nations.

In a debate Tuesday, Wilders seen by many as a Dutch equivalent of Trump paid tribute to the new U.S. leader, saying, "Finally America has a president, finally a country in the West has a president, who not only lives up to his promises but who says 'the freedom of my citizens is more important than anything.'"

Foreign Minister Bert Koenders hit back, saying, "If you want to fight terror, then the worst thing you can do is trample human rights."

The Dutch government has updated its travel advisory for the U.S. to warn of the effects of Trump's new policy on Dutch citizens who have dual nationality with one of the seven nations affected.

The leaders of Germany and Sweden are decrying the immigration restrictions imposed by President Donald Trump and both say they're seeking more clarity on how citizens will be affected.

Chancellor Angela Merkel said that "the fight against terrorism does not justify such general action against particular countries and people of a particular faith." Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven called the move "counterproductive" and "totally unacceptable."

The two leaders were speaking at a press conference in Stockholm Tuesday.

Merkel also stressed Germany's commitment to the independence of the European Central Bank and trading "in fair competition with everyone else" on world markets.

That came after Peter Navarro, who is to lead a new White House council on trade, was quoted in the Financial Times as saying that Germany is using a "grossly undervalued" euro to "exploit" the U.S. and its European partners.

Iran's foreign minister has reiterated that Iran will no longer issue visas for Americans, describing the decision as a "counter-action" to Trump's executive order banning nationals from seven Muslim-majority countries, including Iran, from entering the United States.

Mohammad Javad Zarif added that "if there is an exception, it will be reviewed through the mechanism which has been created in the Foreign Ministry." Zarif spoke to the "Khorasan daily" on Tuesday on the sidelines of a joint press conference with his visiting French counterpart, Jean-Marc Ayrault. About 5 million tourists visit Iran each year, most of them coming from Iraq and other neighboring countries. Europeans have also been coming to Iran, but Americans represent far less than 1 percent of the total or about 50,000 and are subjected to rigorous background checks. Zarif first announced the reciprocal move by Tehran on Saturday, when Trump's visa restrictions took effect. At the time, he said Iran's ban will not be retroactive and that all Americans with already valid Iranian visas "will be gladly welcomed."

Iran's oil minister says there is no ban on American companies working in Iran's oil industry.

The semi-official ILNA news agency on Tuesday is quoting Bijan Zanganeh as saying: "American companies face no ban for entering our oil industry."

However, Zanganeh said American companies "have not directly applied" to work in Iran's oil industry, so far.

This is the first such remark by Iran after an executive order by U.S. president Donald Trump on Friday banned immigration and visa processing for Iranians alongside six other Muslim countries.

In January, Iran's Oil Ministry published a list of 29 international companies qualified to bid for oil and gas projects following the lifting of sanctions under a landmark nuclear accord that went into effect last year.

Visit link:
The Latest: Iraq says it won't retaliate for US travel ban - Corvallis Gazette Times