Posted on

Majnoon Development Plan — Important Move in the Right Direction

By Ahmed Mousa Jiyad.

Any opinions expressed are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News.

Developing Majnoon Oilfield by National Effort — Important Move in the Right Direction

On 21st December, the Ministry of Oil (MoO) approved a set of measures relating to the development of the super giant Majnoon oilfield after Shell relingushed it back to Iraq

In addition to my emphatic strong and absolute support for the Ministry of Oil on this action regarding Majnoon oilfield, I find it timely to highlight some related basic issues that MoO and other authorities, especially the Council of Ministers and the Parliament, should pay attention to and take the necessary action on them.

Please click here to download the full report.

Mr Jiyad is an independent development consultant, scholar and Associate with the former Centre for Global Energy Studies (CGES), London. He was formerly a senior economist with the Iraq National Oil Company and Iraq’s Ministry of Oil, Chief Expert for the Council of Ministers, Director at the Ministry of Trade, and International Specialist with UN organizations in Uganda, Sudan and Jordan. He is now based in Norway (Email: mou-jiya(at)online.no, Skype ID: Ahmed Mousa Jiyad). Read more of Mr Jiyad’s biography here.

Posted on

Reforming and Transforming SOMO

By Ahmed Mousa Jiyad.

Any opinions expressed are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News.

Reforming and Transforming SOMO

This analysis was presented via Skype Conference to the management and staff of Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) on 12th December 2017:

Please click here to download the presentation.

Mr Jiyad is an independent development consultant, scholar and Associate with the former Centre for Global Energy Studies (CGES), London. He was formerly a senior economist with the Iraq National Oil Company and Iraq’s Ministry of Oil, Chief Expert for the Council of Ministers, Director at the Ministry of Trade, and International Specialist with UN organizations in Uganda, Sudan and Jordan. He is now based in Norway (Email: mou-jiya(at)online.no, Skype ID: Ahmed Mousa Jiyad). Read more of Mr Jiyad’s biography here.

Posted on

EITI Suspends Iraq Membership: A Serious Setback

By Ahmed Mousa Jiyad.

Any opinions expressed are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News.

EITI Suspends Iraq Membership: A Serious Setback For Transparency That Should Be Addressed Promptly And Effectively

The recent decision by the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI) to suspend Iraq’s status as a compliant country could, under the already fragile transparency environment in the Iraqi petroleum sector, deal a devastating long-term blow to transparency and wash away ten years of Iraqi efforts.

Therefore, it is a matter of urgency that the Parliament and the Council of Ministers should intervene, forcefully and immediately, to oblige both the Ministry of Oil and the NS-IEITI to comply fully, effectively and in a timely manner with the EITI 2016 Standard, to ensure a positive validation in order to restore and enhance Iraq standing as a compliant country in EITI.

Please click here to download the full report.

Mr Jiyad is an independent development consultant, scholar and Associate with the former Centre for Global Energy Studies (CGES), London. He was formerly a senior economist with the Iraq National Oil Company and Iraq’s Ministry of Oil, Chief Expert for the Council of Ministers, Director at the Ministry of Trade, and International Specialist with UN organizations in Uganda, Sudan and Jordan. He is now based in Norway (Email: mou-jiya(at)online.no, Skype ID: Ahmed Mousa Jiyad). Read more of Mr Jiyad’s biography here.

Posted on

The Geopolitics of Energy, and Impacts on Iraq’s Petroleum Sector

By Ahmed Mousa Jiyad.

Any opinions expressed are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News.

This is a summary of a PowerPoint presentation prepared for and to be delivered before the international “8th Turkey Energy Summit Congress”, held at Antalya, Turkey, 10-11 October 2017.

The presentation was formulated on two interrelated premises;

  1. Iraq is the only Arab country that is resource rich and “semi-landlocked”; has only narrow corridor to international waters with two close chokepoints: one at northern Arabian Gulf (with Kuwait and Iran) and the other is Strait of Hurmuz.
  2. Hence, geology, geography and oil-dependency make Iraq inevitably highly vulnerable to geopolitical risks; kleptocracy exacerbates such vulnerability.

It covers the following topics:

  1. Geology: resource richness and potential resource conflicts;
  2. Geography Governs: Semi Landlocked; Locational Rent (Economic & Political) & Expensive Strategy of Multiple Export Outlets;
  3. Oil Dependency, Vulnerability and Volatility;
  4. The Big-Push Strategy of a Game-Changer;
  5. Kleptocracy, Resource Curse & Major Policy Failures; and finally,
  6. Prospects: Iraq’ Geopolitical Vulnerability Continues.

Please click here to download the full report.

Mr Jiyad is an independent development consultant, scholar and Associate with the former Centre for Global Energy Studies (CGES), London. He was formerly a senior economist with the Iraq National Oil Company and Iraq’s Ministry of Oil, Chief Expert for the Council of Ministers, Director at the Ministry of Trade, and International Specialist with UN organizations in Uganda, Sudan and Jordan. He is now based in Norway (Email: mou-jiya(at)online.no, Skype ID: Ahmed Mousa Jiyad). Read more of Mr Jiyad’s biography here.

Posted on

Expert Blog: Debating SOMO Transformation

By Ahmed Mousa Jiyad.

Any opinions expressed are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News.

Debating SOMO Transformation

New important developments pertaining to or initiated by Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) surfaced during the last few months; they seemed to be integrated components of what was revealed as SOMO’s unstoppable transformation. They are:

  • Partnership with IOCs in activities outside Iraq;
  • Offering crude oil through regular spot/auction-trading;
  • Contemplating oil-hedging and Change of “marker crude” in the pricing formula for Asian market only.

These initiatives could have real, effective and far-reaching consequences in both directions — positive and negative. Thus, serious, evidence-based and professional debate is urgently needed to address all matters relating to SOMO and its unique status not only for the petroleum sector but also for the entire national economy; signs of discontent with SOMO began to show visibility and generate impacts.

In this brief contribution, our Monitoring, Analyzing and Reporting (MAR) (an ongoing activity covering Iraqi petroleum sector), analyses, first, these new four initiatives and highlights many key questions that have to be addressed and specifies critical issues that require further investigation.

That is followed by discussing transparency, as necessary condition for SOMO transformation, and the paper ends with concluding remarks and suggests the launching of SOMO Transformation Debate and convening a special workshop.

Please click here to download the full report.

Mr Jiyad is an independent development consultant, scholar and Associate with the former Centre for Global Energy Studies (CGES), London. He was formerly a senior economist with the Iraq National Oil Company and Iraq’s Ministry of Oil, Chief Expert for the Council of Ministers, Director at the Ministry of Trade, and International Specialist with UN organizations in Uganda, Sudan and Jordan. He is now based in Norway (Email: mou-jiya(at)online.no, Skype ID: Ahmed Mousa Jiyad). Read more of Mr Jiyad’s biography here.