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| South Kurdistan oil & gas development | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Nov 17 12, 1:25 (649,154 Views) | |
| Halo | Jun 18 14, 4:42 Post #1476 |
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Têkoşer
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Ahmed Rasheed @Ahmed_Rasheed_R 5 tim #KRG Hawrami from London says #Kurds have linked Kirkuk #oil hub to their pipeline |
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| LelleS | Jun 18 14, 5:13 Post #1477 |
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How is that possible? that fast? must have been plan since long ago. And how will it look from Bagdad? To soon? |
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| the SUN child | Jun 18 14, 6:38 Post #1478 |
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ZAGROS-ARYAN
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What have you expected? Kirkuk has always been a Kurdish city since the foundation of Kirkuk thousands of years ago. Ancient Kurds build that city out of nowhere. For Kurds it's very easy to organise and manage own things ver fast inside Kurdistan and Kurdish cities like Kirkuk. Edited by the SUN child, Jun 18 14, 6:40.
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| LelleS | Jun 18 14, 7:43 Post #1479 |
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Hey, no I have nothing to say about that KRG takes inspection of Kirkuk. Is surprised that the KRG as soon holding on to engage in Kirkuk, I mean it's only been a week. I'm just glad everything Kurdish successes. |
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| the SUN child | Jun 18 14, 8:11 Post #1480 |
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ZAGROS-ARYAN
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I know what you mean. But Kurds never gave up on Kirkuk at the first place. (Like we never give up on our ancestral lands in Rojava, Bakur and Rojhelat under occupation of Arabs, Turks and Persians). We always knew that we would get our city back. All this time since 2003 we were preparing to incorporate Kirkuk into our Kurdish governess. Even if there would never be a referendum on Kirkuk, still we would annex it without asking the US. I don't think there’s a some kind of a secret agreements/preparation of Kurds with other groups, organizations, people or states. And I don't think that anybody helped Kurds in getting Kirkuk back. It was just the right place and right time. The only secret is that we're much stronger than our enemies. We don't want much, we only take back what is ours. We did it because we can do it. If we were weaker, divided and not organized, we even would loose much more of our land to our enemies instead of taking it back. It is funny that some people especially in Turkye believe that by delaying Kurds will lose their nationalism and assimilate into foreign races/cultures. But it's actually the opposite, as time goes by we are becoming more nationalistic. We’re very patient people, and when the time is right we act. Edited by the SUN child, Jun 19 14, 3:09.
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| ALAN | Jun 18 14, 10:33 Post #1481 |
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Kirkuk fields are only few Kms from Khurmala line. |
| Russian Girenak Joseph, who visited Kirkuk in Kurdistan as a part of his tour throu the 1870 - 1873 AD, who published the results of his trip & his studies later in 1879, in the 4th volume in the Bulletin of the Caucasus department of the Royal Geographical Russian Society estimated Kirkuk's population as many as 12-50,000 people, & he emphasized that except 40 Christian families, the rest of the population were Kurds. As for The Turkmen & Arabs, they have not been already existed at the time. | |
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| ALAN | Jun 18 14, 10:34 Post #1482 |
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UPDATE 2- KRG Kurds link Kirkuk to own oil pipeline, plan more exports LONDON, June 17 (Reuters) - South Kurdistan has built a link connecting Kirkuk to its newly-built pipeline to Turkey, its minister of natural resources said, potentially cementing Kurdish control over the northern oil hub and reducing its reliance on Baghdad. The link could allow the Kurds to start exports of Kirkuk crude oil through their own network, giving them a major source of independent revenue and boosting any ambitions of sovereign statehood as Iraq falls into increasing disarray. The new link connects Kirkuk's Avana dome to the Khurmala dome out of which the Kurdish pipeline runs. "That blue line was finished," Ashti Hawrami, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) minister for natural resources, told a conference in London, pointing to a map of the pipelines. Baghdad's military retreat from the north under a lightning assault led by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) last week allowed the KRG's Peshmerga forces to seize control of long-disputed Kirkuk and its oil reserves - the potential economic lynchpin of a sovereign Kurdish entity. But the main 600,000 bpd Kirkuk pipeline, which accounted for the bulk of Iraq's northern crude oil exports, has been offline since March following insurgent attacks. Attempts to repair it have been thwarted by Islamic militants in the region, who have targeted engineers trying to fix sections of the line that pass through territory outside KRG control. Adnan al-Janabi, a senior Sunni politician and head of Iraq's oil and gas committee, said that Kirkuk's production would likely be out for the time being along with some fields in the Salahuddin area but that oil production inside KRG areas would continue uninterrupted. Janabi, a critic of the Baghdad government, told the conference that the Kurds had effectively realised their "dream of a greater Kurdistan" and the Iraqi army lacked the capability to take the oil city back easily. "Kurdistan of Iraq is already on its national desired border and I don't think it will be easy to push back," he said. "It includes parts of Kirkuk, Diala, Salahuddin... They are already there, already running the place and I don't think anyone will challenge them." PUSH AHEAD WITH EXPORTS With Baghdad busy fighting ISIL, the Kurds are pushing ahead with oil exports that could help bolster their autonomy. Hawrami said the Kurds expected to load two more tankers of crude from their newly built pipeline this week at the Turkish port of Ceyhan. The KRG began independent exports in May from its pipeline to Turkey, which by-passes Baghdad's system. So far, two tankers have loaded that oil. For years, the KRG and Baghdad have been locked in a struggle over how to divide the country's oil revenue and budget. Baghdad opposes independent Kurdish oil exports and says all marketing must go through the state entity SOMO. The divisions have significantly eroded trust and Hawrami said that the central government had withheld budget payments to the region so far this year and before that was giving only around 10 percent instead of an agreed 17 percent. Oil exports will increase to 200,000-250,000 barrels per day in July, and then to 400,000 bpd by the year-end, Hawrami said, allowing the KRG to catch up with the entitlement that Baghdad never paid. Speaking at the same conference, Thamir Ghadban, an oil official and advisor to the Iraqi prime minister, declined to get into the numbers but said the Kurds could not pick and choose from the country's constitution and should work through the central government. Baghdad's warnings have not deterred the Kurds so far. "They pushed us to do this," Hawrami said. "We're going to create facts on the ground... Don't ask me to surrender my rights into your hands." (Writing by Lin Noueihed, editing by David Evans) http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSL5N0OY2PI20140617?irpc=932 |
| Russian Girenak Joseph, who visited Kirkuk in Kurdistan as a part of his tour throu the 1870 - 1873 AD, who published the results of his trip & his studies later in 1879, in the 4th volume in the Bulletin of the Caucasus department of the Royal Geographical Russian Society estimated Kirkuk's population as many as 12-50,000 people, & he emphasized that except 40 Christian families, the rest of the population were Kurds. As for The Turkmen & Arabs, they have not been already existed at the time. | |
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| ALAN | Jun 18 14, 10:37 Post #1483 |
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Ok so it's only Avana structure which lies in Maxmour not newly freed Baba fields.. So we are exporting 2/3 of Kerkûk oil only Baba structure remains unconnected |
| Russian Girenak Joseph, who visited Kirkuk in Kurdistan as a part of his tour throu the 1870 - 1873 AD, who published the results of his trip & his studies later in 1879, in the 4th volume in the Bulletin of the Caucasus department of the Royal Geographical Russian Society estimated Kirkuk's population as many as 12-50,000 people, & he emphasized that except 40 Christian families, the rest of the population were Kurds. As for The Turkmen & Arabs, they have not been already existed at the time. | |
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| Worldwar2boy | Jun 18 14, 7:06 Post #1484 |
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KRG is going to pay Peshmerga 2 salaries in 1 time /payment :). |
| biji kurd u kurdistan !! | |
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| ALAN | Jun 19 14, 3:39 Post #1485 |
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KRG Kurds link Kirkuk to Kurdistan oil pipeline, plan more exports • See Related Articles June 18, 2014 LONDON,— South Kurdistan has built a link connecting Kirkuk to its newly-built pipeline to Turkey, its minister of natural resources said, potentially cementing Kurdish control over the northern oil hub and reducing its reliance on Baghdad. The link could allow the Kurds to start exports of Kirkuk crude oil through their own network, giving them a major source of independent revenue and boosting any ambitions of sovereign statehood as Iraq falls into increasing disarray. The new link connects Kirkuk's Avana dome to the Khurmala dome out of which the Kurdish pipeline runs. "That blue line was finished," Ashti Hawrami, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) minister for natural resources, told a conference in London, pointing to a map of the pipelines. Baghdad's military retreat from the north under a lightning assault led by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) last week allowed the KRG's Peshmerga forces to seize control of long-disputed Kirkuk and its oil reserves - the potential economic lynchpin of a sovereign Kurdish entity. But the main 600,000 bpd Kirkuk pipeline, which accounted for the bulk of Iraq's northern crude oil exports, has been offline since March following insurgent attacks. Attempts to repair it have been thwarted by Islamic militants in the region, who have targeted engineers trying to fix sections of the line that pass through territory outside KRG control. Adnan al-Janabi, a senior Sunni politician and head of Iraq's oil and gas committee, said that Kirkuk's production would likely be out for the time being along with some fields in the Salahuddin area but that oil production inside KRG areas would continue uninterrupted. Janabi, a critic of the Baghdad government, told the conference that the Kurds had effectively realised their "dream of a greater Kurdistan" and the Iraqi army lacked the capability to take the oil city back easily. "Kurdistan of Iraq is already on its national desired border and I don't think it will be easy to push back," he said. "It includes parts of Kirkuk, Diala, Salahuddin... They are already there, already running the place and I don't think anyone will challenge them." PUSH AHEAD WITH EXPORTS With Baghdad busy fighting ISIS, the Kurds are pushing ahead with oil exports that could help bolster their autonomy. Hawrami said the Kurds expected to load two more tankers of crude from their newly built pipeline this week at the Turkish port of Ceyhan. The KRG began independent exports in May from its pipeline to Turkey, which by-passes Baghdad's system. So far, two tankers have loaded that oil. For years, the KRG and Baghdad have been locked in a struggle over how to divide the country's oil revenue and budget. Baghdad opposes independent Kurdish oil exports and says all marketing must go through the state entity SOMO. The divisions have significantly eroded trust and Hawrami said that the central government had withheld budget payments to the region so far this year and before that was giving only around 10 percent instead of an agreed 17 percent. Oil exports will increase to 200,000-250,000 barrels per day in July, and then to 400,000 bpd by the year-end, Hawrami said, allowing the KRG to catch up with the entitlement that Baghdad never paid. Speaking at the same conference, Thamir Ghadban, an oil official and advisor to the Iraqi prime minister, declined to get into the numbers but said the Kurds could not pick and choose from the country's constitution and should work through the central government. Baghdad's warnings have not deterred the Kurds so far. "They pushed us to do this," Hawrami said. "We're going to create facts on the ground... Don't ask me to surrender my rights into your hands." By Julia Payne and Lin Noueihed - Reuters Copyright ©, respective author or news agency, Reuters |
| Russian Girenak Joseph, who visited Kirkuk in Kurdistan as a part of his tour throu the 1870 - 1873 AD, who published the results of his trip & his studies later in 1879, in the 4th volume in the Bulletin of the Caucasus department of the Royal Geographical Russian Society estimated Kirkuk's population as many as 12-50,000 people, & he emphasized that except 40 Christian families, the rest of the population were Kurds. As for The Turkmen & Arabs, they have not been already existed at the time. | |
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| LelleS | Jun 20 14, 6:54 Post #1486 |
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MNR refutes inaccurate and harmful report about KRG oil sales by Bloomberg news agency http://www.krg.org/a/d.aspx?s=010000&l=12&a=51739 |
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| Worldwar2boy | Jun 20 14, 7:14 Post #1487 |
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You know, even if SK sells oil at discount to Turkey, once independence is declared and Kurdistan is internationally recognized AND manages to join UN, it could easily cancel the ''50 year contract''. Here's why; - The contract was signed under the KRG government. If the KRG doesn't exist anymore, the new Kurdish State doesn't have to honor that contract. Ehehe. |
| biji kurd u kurdistan !! | |
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| LelleS | Jun 20 14, 7:19 Post #1488 |
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I dont think thats an good way to go, even if you say its a "new" country it's the same people you deal with. Remember that. |
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| Halo | Jun 20 14, 7:28 Post #1489 |
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Têkoşer
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KRG isin't selling oil to Turkey, Turkey wants gas not oil |
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| Worldwar2boy | Jun 20 14, 8:27 Post #1490 |
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nobody cares and by that time, politician will be different people too different country, situation, legislation, people or do you want Kurdistan to continue to sell oil for cheap to Turkey for half a century? ![]() enemies are there to be used, not to be served. remember that. |
| biji kurd u kurdistan !! | |
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| ALAN | Jun 20 14, 9:58 Post #1491 |
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wwboy, if we do that turkey will simply closed the door on us. So no. |
| Russian Girenak Joseph, who visited Kirkuk in Kurdistan as a part of his tour throu the 1870 - 1873 AD, who published the results of his trip & his studies later in 1879, in the 4th volume in the Bulletin of the Caucasus department of the Royal Geographical Russian Society estimated Kirkuk's population as many as 12-50,000 people, & he emphasized that except 40 Christian families, the rest of the population were Kurds. As for The Turkmen & Arabs, they have not been already existed at the time. | |
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| ALAN | Jun 20 14, 11:45 Post #1492 |
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Kurdistan distributes fuel on doubles and single number system to overcome gasoline crisis Shafaq News / Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) decided on Thursday, to work on double and single numbers of cars system to overcome the scarcity of the fuel crisis that has plagued residents for several days in the cities of the province. Safeen Dazia , spokesman of KRG said in a news conference in Erbil, attended by "Shafaq News", that “ those involved in the Council of Ministers and the Ministry of Natural Resources and the governors of Erbil, Sulaimani and Dohuk and Garmiyan management have held a meeting in Erbil and took instruction to overcome the fuel crisis. He explained that the attendees have decided to work with singles and doubles numbers of cars to give them 30 liters of fuel only, adding that they will be working later on fuel card system. He added that the current distribution system will continue until the completion of proceedings printed fuel cards. He also announced that Kurdistan has no problems in securing the jet fuel of the region with liquid gas, adding that the Ministry of Natural Resources has assured that there are no problems in this regard. Kurdistan Confederation receives part of the local need for fuel from Baiji refinery, which stopped working due to the attack by Islamist militants on the refinery. The refinery feeds half the local market need of petroleum products, which is equivalent to more than 300 thousand barrels per day. What has increased the severity of the crisis of fuel scarcity in the region was the influx of hundreds of thousands of displaced people from Nineveh, Salahuddin and Diyala towards Kurdistan Confederation . Earlier today Turkey expected increasing Iraqi demand for its oil products after Baiji refinery stopped, which can cause crowd at the only crossing between the two sides in Zakho district affiliated to Dohuk province. http://english.shafaaq.com/index.php/community/10232-kurdistan-distributes-fuel-on-doubles-and-singles-system-to-overcome-gasoline-crisis |
| Russian Girenak Joseph, who visited Kirkuk in Kurdistan as a part of his tour throu the 1870 - 1873 AD, who published the results of his trip & his studies later in 1879, in the 4th volume in the Bulletin of the Caucasus department of the Royal Geographical Russian Society estimated Kirkuk's population as many as 12-50,000 people, & he emphasized that except 40 Christian families, the rest of the population were Kurds. As for The Turkmen & Arabs, they have not been already existed at the time. | |
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| Worldwar2boy | Jun 20 14, 5:30 Post #1493 |
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that's why i said we need Rojava to secure searoute ![]() |
| biji kurd u kurdistan !! | |
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| LelleS | Jun 20 14, 5:57 Post #1494 |
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I dont belive they sell the oil at discount, thats an lie. |
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| ALAN | Jun 20 14, 8:14 Post #1495 |
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KRG Spokesperson to KNNC: All KRG's Oil in Turkey's Ceyhan Port Sold Hewlêr, Kurdistan region- Spokesperson of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), Safeen Dizayee, says that all the oil that was transported to Turkey's Ceyhan port has been sold. Dizayye told Kurdish Network News Channel KNNC that all the income of the sold oil will be returned to Kurdistan Confederation . Speaking about the process and continuation of sending oil, Dizayye added that the KRG will never be a setback in importing oil. Since the beginning of 2014, Hewlêr and Baghdad have held several meetings to discuss how to export Kurdistan's energy to Turkey but they have failed to reach an agreement, hence Maliki, Iraq's Prime Minister, unilaterally decided to cut the Kurdish share of the national budget. Dizayee explains that the oil which was sent to Turkey over the past few months have been sold according to international standards and prices, hence refuting Baghdad's accusations that the oil was sold at a lower price KRG has borrowed money from some oil companies to provide an adequate budget for KRG's employees; moreover, the KRG announced that they started sending oil to provide civic salaries. KRG is determined to export oil to Turkeys Ceyhan port despite chaos, a political vacuum and war caused by the Sunni Jihadist militants, known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Sham, ISIS. http://knnc.net/en/full-story-37198-28-False |
| Russian Girenak Joseph, who visited Kirkuk in Kurdistan as a part of his tour throu the 1870 - 1873 AD, who published the results of his trip & his studies later in 1879, in the 4th volume in the Bulletin of the Caucasus department of the Royal Geographical Russian Society estimated Kirkuk's population as many as 12-50,000 people, & he emphasized that except 40 Christian families, the rest of the population were Kurds. As for The Turkmen & Arabs, they have not been already existed at the time. | |
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| ALAN | Jun 20 14, 9:00 Post #1496 |
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Tanker carrying disputed pipeline Kurdish oil arrives in Israel LONDON, June 20 (Reuters) - A tanker carrying pipeline South Kurdish crude oil has anchored by Israel's Ashkelon port early on Friday morning, ship tracking and industry sources said. The tanker, the SCF Altai, did not arrive directly from Turkey's Ceyhan port, out of which South Kurdistan's pipeline oil is exported. The United Emblem loaded the oil at the beginning of last week at Ceyhan and then sailed to Malta where it did a ship-to-ship transfer to the SCF Altai tanker, local shipping and market sources said and ship tracking showed. (Reporting by Julia Payne, editing by William Hardy) http://news.yahoo.com/tanker-carrying-disputed-pipeline-kurdish-oil-arrives-israel-083833071.html |
| Russian Girenak Joseph, who visited Kirkuk in Kurdistan as a part of his tour throu the 1870 - 1873 AD, who published the results of his trip & his studies later in 1879, in the 4th volume in the Bulletin of the Caucasus department of the Royal Geographical Russian Society estimated Kirkuk's population as many as 12-50,000 people, & he emphasized that except 40 Christian families, the rest of the population were Kurds. As for The Turkmen & Arabs, they have not been already existed at the time. | |
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| Halo | Jun 20 14, 9:40 Post #1497 |
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Têkoşer
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Kak lan you're making ww2boy horny with this news |
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| Alasha | Jun 21 14, 12:55 Post #1498 |
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Erbil Denies Selling Half-Price Oil, Slams Bloomberg Report London – The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has denied an international news agency report that it was selling oil through its new pipeline to Turkey at half the world crude price. A statement from the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) expressed surprise and disappointment over a Bloomberg report published on Thursday and headlined: “Half-Price Kurdish Oil Threatens Iraq Breakup With Turkish Help.” The ministry said it had complained to the American agency, which had later changed the headline. But Bloomberg stood by its claim that oil was being sold at half-price, which the ministry described as false. The agency attributed its information to an unnamed official involved in the trade. The report came as violence in Iraq prompted a surge in benchmark crude to above $115 a barrel this week. Exports through the new pipeline to the port of Ceyhan are a highly sensitive issue for the KRG, which has been involved for months in a bitter dispute with Baghdad that predates the latest Iraqi crisis. What appears to have angered the ministry is that the disputed headline could imply that the KRG is conspiring in the break-up of Iraq and selling its oil cheap, perhaps to overcome buyer resistance to purchasing oil whose ownership is disputed by Baghdad. “At a time of great tension for Iraq, such shoddy reporting, analysis and editorializing seems calculated to cause further division and mistrust, and could also harm the financial interests of the KRG and Iraq,” the MNR said in the statement. It said the KRG would never consider exporting and selling Iraq’s natural resources at half price, either now or in the future. The KRG sold oil through the pipeline to Ceyhan on an international commercial market basis, it added. Despite blackmail and threats by Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) and the oil ministry in Baghdad, the KRG had been able to deliver oil to its customers under commercially viable contracts, the statement said. All payments were being made into the KRG’s account in Turkey. The statement reiterated the KRG position that direct sales of Kurdish oil are legal, constitutional, and fall within the Kurdistan Confederation ’s 17 per cent entitlement of the federal Iraqi budget. The ministry complained that Bloomberg had made no attempt to contact KRG officials for comment or verification of its report. The story had used quotes and language in such a way as to accuse the KRG and Turkey of trying to break up Iraq and steal Iraq’s money. The statement reiterated a commitment, made in London this week by natural resources minister Ashti Hawrami, that the KRG remained open to dialogue with Baghdad to resolve all outstanding issues on oil and gas within the framework of the constitution. Hawrami told the Iraq Petroleum Conference in London that the first two consignments of Kurdish oil shipped from Ceyhan had been sold and that two more tankers were being loaded week. The minister said current Kurdish exports were at 125,000 barrels per day, a figure that would double by July and reach 400,000 bpd by the end of the year. He said the export policy would remain in place “until there’s agreement on 17 per cent or we get our own 17 per cent.” “We are not going back to where Baghdad can use its red card anytime it wants to,” he declared. Bloomberg did not immediately respond to a Rudaw request to comment on the KRG complaint. Source: http://rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/20062014 |
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Jet fuel can't melt steel beams "If Turkey allows itself interfere in the matter of Kerkûk because of a few thousand Turkmen, we will do the same with regard to Diyarbakir (Amed) and other Kurdistani cities in Turkey because of 30 million Kurds." - President Masoud Barzanî | |
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| ALAN | Jun 21 14, 1:41 Post #1499 |
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| Russian Girenak Joseph, who visited Kirkuk in Kurdistan as a part of his tour throu the 1870 - 1873 AD, who published the results of his trip & his studies later in 1879, in the 4th volume in the Bulletin of the Caucasus department of the Royal Geographical Russian Society estimated Kirkuk's population as many as 12-50,000 people, & he emphasized that except 40 Christian families, the rest of the population were Kurds. As for The Turkmen & Arabs, they have not been already existed at the time. | |
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| Zlatan10 | Jun 21 14, 7:55 Post #1500 |
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KRG statement on oil exports Erbil, Kurdistan Confederation , Iraq (MNR.KRG.org) - The Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is pleased to announce that the KRG’s second sale of piped crude oil export via the port of Ceyhan was safely delivered to the buyers. This second sale of oil from the Kurdistan Confederation , which also consisted of around one million barrels of crude oil, was safely transported by a tanker-ship chartered by MNR. We are proud of this milestone achievement, which was accomplished despite almost three weeks of intimidation and baseless interferences from Baghdad against the tanker-ship owners and the related international traders and buyers. We are also proud to announce that the third and fourth tanker-ships are now in Ceyhan for loading with Kurdistan Oil for other buyers. The KRG wishes to declare and clarify its legal authority to the benefit of all General 1. The KRG is acting fully within its authorities under the Constitution of the Republic of Iraq that entered into force in 2005 (“the Constitution”), and fully within Kurdistan Confederation law, to export and sell oil produced in the Kurdistan Confederation . 2. In interfering with the exports of oil from the Kurdistan Confederation , the federal government is acting grossly outside its limited authorities under the Constitution. Iraq’s “Ministry of Oil” (MoO) and “State Oil Marketing Organisation” (SOMO) are not mentioned in the Constitution. 3. The export of oil from the Kurdistan Confederation is taking place by the KRG, under the authority of the Oil and Gas Lawof the Kurdistan Confederation – Iraq (Law No. 22 – 2007) and the Kurdistan Confederation Financial Compensation Law No. (Law No. 5 – 2013). 4. Article 3 Paragraph Fourth of the Kurdistan Confederation Oil and Gas Law requires the KRG to “oversee and regulate all Petroleum Operations”, which by definition (Article 1 Paragraph 18) includes the “export of Petroleum”. 5. The Kurdistan Confederation Financial Compensation Law No. (Law No. 5 -2013) permits the KRG to retain the proceeds of sales of petroleum in circumstances where the federal government is not sharing revenues in accordance with the federal Constitution. Iraq’s federal constitution 6. The rights and responsibilities of the KRG and the federal government are determined by the Constitution. 7. The constitution describes a federal, decentralised system of government for Iraq in which sovereignty is shared between the federal government of Iraq, the Kurdistan Confederation (which is recognised in Article 117 of the Constitution) and the various provinces or “governorates” of Iraq. The decentralised nature of Iraq’s federal system applies to oil and gas. The federal government, as a consequence, does not have exclusive authorities in respect of oil and gas. 8. The Constitution only grants the federal government a few, limited, exclusive powers (set out in Article 110), which does not extend to oil and gas and grants no exclusive powers over oil and gas to the federal government. The balance of all powers, including in respect of oil and gas, are either reserved to the regions (and in some cases the governorates) under Article 115 of the constitution, or shared with the regions (and in some cases, the governorates) under Articles 114 and 112 of the Constitution. 9. There are three provisions of the Constitution that are relevant to the regulation of exports, from Iraq, of oil and gas: (a) Article 110, on the exclusive authorities of the federal government; (b) Article 112, on the management of pre-2005 old producing oil and gas fields; (c) Article 115, on post-2005 new field and on the relationship between the exclusive authorities of the federal government and the authorities of regions and governorates. 10. Any powers that the federal government may have in respect of the regulation of the export of petroleum from the Kurdistan Confederation are: (a) in the case of all contract areas in the Kurdistan Confederation , displaced by the KRG's reserved powers under Article 115; and (b) in the case of any other fields elsewhere in Iraq, shared powers which do not impair the KRG's right to regulate the export of petroleum or petroleum products from the Kurdistan Confederation . 11. Article 115 of the Constitution provides for the priority of Kurdistan Confederation law.Article 115 of the Constitution states that “all powers not stipulated in the exclusive powers of the federal government belong to the authorities of the regions and governorates that are not organized in a region”. In these circumstances, the management of oil and gas extracted from fields in the Kurdistan Confederation is, according to the general principles of the Constitution, an exclusive power of the Kurdistan Confederation . 12. This means that the Kurdistan Confederation has an unfettered discretion: (a) to authorise, regulate, and manage the export of petroleum and petroleum products from the Kurdistan Confederation ; (b) to build, own, regulate, and manage petroleum and product pipelines in the Kurdistan Confederation , including pipelines that connect to pipelines at an international border with the Kurdistan Confederation ; and (c) to enter into agreements with foreign government authorities for the regulation and connection of international pipelines, for the sale of petroleum produced by the KRG, and for the transportation of petroleum and petroleum products owned by the KRG. 13. The federal government has no authority under the Constitution to limit the foregoing rights of the Kurdistan Confederation . 14. Any pre-2005 laws of Iraq in contradiction to the constitution are specifically rendered void under Article 130 of the Constitution. To the extent that the federal government is threatening potential buyers based on old laws that contradict the Constitution, the federal government is establishing the weakness of its authority and affirming the lack of express authority under the Constitution. 15. There are no relevant post-2005 laws of Iraq. Any proposed new law of Iraq will, pursuant to Article 13 of the Constitution, be void to the extent that it contradicts the Constitution. By contrast the KRG has organised its legal system consistent with the Constitution and enacted Law No 22 – 2007 and Law No. 5 – 2013 to invalidate the old Iraq law in the Kurdistan Confederation and to exercise the KRG’s rights granted under the Constitution. Federal “policy” 16. The exclusive federal power in respect of trade described in Article 110 First of the Constitution is limited to formulating “policy”. The federal government is granted no further authority in respect of oil and gas from the Kurdistan Confederation and there is no requirement for the Kurdistan Confederation to recognise policies of the federal government. 17. Nothing in the Constitution, or the drafting history of the Constitution, suggests that the federal power to formulate trade “policy” determined under Article 110 First carries with it any exclusive authority to enact related legislation or any exclusive authority to issue regulations or decrees in furtherance of any expression of policy of the federal government. The word “policy” was inserted specifically and purposely throughout Article 110 as a limitation of federal power. There is no provision in the Constitution that might provide the means to invalidate a law (as distinct from a policy) of the KRG on foreign sovereign trade on the grounds that the law is inconsistent with federal policy. KRG’s rights in relation to present (pre-2005) and future (post-2005) fields 18. Article 112 governs the circumstances of “the management of oil and gas extracted from present fields”. 19. The expression “present fields” is given a precise meaning under Kurdistan Confederation law. Article 1 of the KRG Oil and Gas Law defines a present field (or “current field” in the terminology of the English translation of that law as published by the KRG) as “a Petroleum Field that has been in Commercial Production prior to 15 August 2005”. The meaning of “present fields” is not clear under Iraqi law outside the Kurdistan Confederation . 20. There is, today, no export production in the Kurdistan Confederation from “present fields”. All export production is from new fields (which the 2007 KRG Oil and Gas Law calls “future fields”). Further, all exports from the Kurdistan Confederation are, today, from two “future fields” with respect to which contracts were signed before the constitution entered into force. 21. Because those two contracts were signed before 2005, they are specifically ratified by Article 141 of the constitution. 22. The federal government is not distributing revenues in accordance with the revenue sharing condition set out in Article 112. Therefore, any power of the federal government under Article 112 (in relation to even the pre-2005 present fields) would not apply. In those circumstances, any post-extraction oil and gas management of “present fields” in the Kurdistan Confederation must become an exclusive power of the KRG. 23. The management of oil and gas extracted from future fields is clearly not an exclusive power of the federal government enumerated under Article 110 of the Constitution, and is not identified as a shared power under Article 112. It follows that, in respect of future fields, the general principles of the Iraqi Constitution apply and the KRG has the exclusive right to manage those fields. The KRG has this right whether or not the contracts governing those fields are the subject of the ratification provision of Article 141 of the Constitution. Failed federal attempts to constitutional amendments 24. After the Constitution entered into force in 2005, there were efforts made by the federal parliament to initiate a set of amendments to Article 110 of the Constitution, including paragraph First, so that the federal government’s policy-making powers would be legislative in nature, and to include authority on oil and gas. 25. Those efforts were documented in the 2007 record of deliberations of the parliament’s Constitution Review Committee. Those efforts did not succeed. However, those efforts do constitute clear evidence that the federal government itself understands the limitations of its powers in respect of oil and gas under the constitution as set forth above. KRG warning 26. To the extent third parties are intentionally assisting SOMO to prevent or discourage potential buyers of oil from the KRG, the KRG may take the view that those parties are assisting in an illegal and prosecutable conspiracy. 27. The unconstitutional and baseless monopolistic attempts by SOMO have no place in the new Iraq and SOMO’s attempts, guided by some power grabbing individuals in Baghdad, are clearly putting the very unity of the country at risk. 28. Once again the KRG calls upon SOMO and SOMO’s advisers and associates to stop their futile interferences with KRG’s legitimate oil sales process. The KRG strongly advises Baghdad to authorise SOMO to accept KRG’s invitation to join us in Ceyhan and work with us hand in hand to increase oil exports from all of Iraq and to maximise oil revenues to benefit of all of Iraq. 29. The KRG’s objective has remained unchanged since the entry into force of the constitution and KRG’s 2007 Oil and Gas Law. The KRG’s objective is to maximise revenues for all of Iraq, and for the KRG to directly receive its full 17% constitutional entitlement from Iraq’s overall oil revenue, without cuts, disruptions or controls by Baghdad. 30. The reader may also consult the attached reference for completeness. Attachments Attached to this statement are the following: (a) the Iraqi Constitution; (b) the KRG Oil and Gas Law of 2007; (c) the KRG Financial Compensation Law of 2013 English; and Arabic; (d) the legal opinion of Professor James Crawford SC, FBA, LLD, Whewell Professor of International Law, University of Cambridge; (e) the presentation made by the KRG Minister of Natural Resources at the CWC Iraq Petrolem Conference in London on 17 June 2014. http://www.krg.org/a/d.aspx?s=040000&l=12&a=51746 |
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1:45 AM Jul 12