1 May 2003 US plans to set up an advisory board to oversee Iraq’s oil sector are taking shape. Fadhil Othman, a retired Iraqi oil marketing official now living in Turkey, is understood to have accepted Washington’s request that he serve as deputy head of the oil advisory board, a non-executive body. In view of Othman’s past experience as head of Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organization (Somo), he “could be…
Tag: Mina al-Bakr
Iraq-India: Special Friends
15 December 2000 A deal reached with India last month could set the ball rolling for a new type of arrangement between Baghdad and “friendly countries.” In return for the award of an exploration contract in the western desert, India could trade wheat and rice for Iraqi oil outside the UN oil-for-food program, Iraqi sources say. New Delhi is now talking to the UN about applying for a sanctions waiver,…
Big Fish
14 July 2000 Preparing for the day when UN sanctions are finally lifted, Iraq went touting its oil wares to an international audience in Paris last week. The audience – which included supergiants Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch/Shell, BP Amoco, and Total Fina Elf, as well as a host of slightly smaller fry – also got to hear about some ambitious post-sanctions marketing plans, including moves to recapture more of the…
Euro Fan
20 October 2000 Baghdad’s politically motivated bid to replace the US dollar with the beleaguered euro as its currency for international transactions – including oil sales – could become reality. There is a precedent: Libya has been receiving oil payments in currencies other than the dollar for some time, and in euros occasionally, since the start of this year. Provided the Iraqi oil pricing formula is calculated in dollars –…