6 May 2003 With the weekend announcement of the first two names for an advisory board, US plans for oversight of Iraq’s oil industry appear to be taking shape. But questions are being asked as to why the rest of the board is taking so long to firm up, and what this might mean for Washington’s ability — or desire — to shape Iraqi oil policy. Some observers say that…
Tag: Somo
Oil Veteran Appointed to Get Iraqi Industry Back on Track
6 May 2003 The US-led Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance in Iraq (ORHA) on Saturday announced the appointment of the director general of planning at the Iraqi oil ministry, Thamer al-Ghadban, as chief executive of the interim management team for the Iraqi oil sector. It did not set a timeframe for the interim management of the oil ministry and companies under its auspices, which al-Ghadban will also be in…
Oil Board Firms Up in Iraq; Somo Shattered
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…
US Asserts Authority at Iraqi Oil Ministry
30 April 2003 A senior US official from the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance (ORHA) made a first visit to the Iraqi oil ministry in Baghdad on Tuesday, delivering instructions from ORHA chief Jay Garner that the status quo be preserved at the ministry for the time being. In the first meeting since the collapse of Saddam Hussein’s regime and the occupation of Iraq by US forces, ORHA senior…