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Production restarts at Sarqala

DRAW: Iraq Oil Report Days after the field was shut down because of disputes between politically connected trucking companies, the Kurdistan region has regained 30,000 bpd of production. The Sarqala oil field has restarted after a dispute within the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) party led to the temporary shutdown of its 30,000 barrels per day (bpd) of production. "It has been two days since we have resumed trucking oil from Garmiyan oil block to Khurmala, following a meeting with the deputy minister [of the KRG Ministry of Natural Resources], Ahmed Mufti,” said an official from Keep Of Oil, the subcontractor responsible for trucking oil from Sarqala to the Kurdistan region’s export pipeline. This content is for registered users. Please login to continue. If you are not a registered user, you may purchase a subscription or sign up for a free trial. Iraq Oil Report Attribution Policy All sources quoted or referenced spoke to Iraq Oil Report directly and exclusively, unless stated otherwise. Iraq Oil Report typically grants anonymity to sources that can't speak without risking their personal safety or job security. We only publish information from anonymous sources that we independently corroborate and are important to core elements of the story. We do not provide anonymity to sources whose purpose is to further personal or political agendas. Iraq Oil Report Commitment to Independence Iraq Oil Report strives to provide thoroughly vetted reporting and fair-minded analysis that enables readers to understand the dynamic events of Iraq. To meet this goal, we always seek to gather first-hand information on the ground, verify facts from multiple angles, and solicit input from every stakeholder involved in a given story. We view our independence as an integral piece of our competitive advantage. Whereas many media entities in Iraq are owned or heavily influenced by political parties, Iraq Oil Report is wholly owned by several of its employees. In a landscape that is often polarized and politicized, we are able to gather and corroborate information from an unusually wide array of sources because we can speak with all of them in good faith. To fund this enterprise, Iraq Oil Report depends on revenue from both advertising and subscriptions. Some of our advertisers and subscribers ‐ including companies, governments, and NGOs ‐ are also subjects of our reporting. Consistent with journalistic best practices, Iraq Oil Report maintains a strict firewall that removes business considerations from editorial decision-making. When we are choosing which stories to report and how to write them, our readers always come first.

Iraqi dreams of democracy fade with arrests of journalists

DRAW: CHLOE CORNISH - FINANCIAL TIMES Judging by Guhdar Zebari’s modest family home in Iraq’s Kurdish mountains, it is hard to imagine the journalist and activist could be a well-paid spy. But a court in Erbil, the Kurdish regional capital, ruled that he and fellow journalist Sherwan Sherwani were, according to a summary by the region’s government, “guilty of gathering classified information and passing it covertly to foreign actors in exchange for substantial sums of money” and possessing “illegal weapons”. The two were among five journalists and activists sentenced to six years in jail last month, after they covered or took part in anti-government protests in the Kurdish city of Duhok. Amnesty International called the charges “trumped-up”, while Zebari’s father says his son “was writing about corruption [and] they didn’t like his writings”. Supporters say the Duhok five are casualties in the escalating battle for free speech across Opec’s second-largest producer. In the past 18 months, dozens of Iraqi journalists have been killed, kidnapped, detained, or been taken to court on specious charges. The killings are widely blamed on militias tied to Iraq’s political system and backed by Tehran. But now the Kurdish authorities and the Iraqi state are adding to the pressure. Last weekend, the supreme judicial council in Baghdad issued arrest warrants for two political writers for defaming public authorities. One, Ibrahim al-Sumaidaie, was taken from his home by police. The other lives abroad. The charges were based on a 1969 law written during the rule of the Ba’ath party, which choked dissent and cloaked Iraq in silence until it was overthrown and eradicated in the wake of the 2003 US-led invasion. Guhdar Zebari, another of the five found guilty of spying, was ‘writing about corruption [and] they didn’t like his writings’, says his father © CPJ Since 2003, Iraqis have carved out a “small space” to speak out, says Diyari Salih, a lecturer at Baghdad’s Mustansiriyah University. But he warns that the judicial council’s use of the 1969 legislation “confirms that Saddam [Hussein’s] mentality is still working in the system”. For Salih, this underscores failure “to reach the goals that we were dreaming about, to have a democratic political system”. There is media plurality in Iraq, but not much independence: most broadcasters and news outlets are owned by political parties and militias. Reporters and camera operators are regularly targeted by both Kurdish and central government administrations. When hundreds of protesters were killed by security forces and militiamen during mass anti-government protests in 2019, Iraq’s media regulator ordered 12 television and four radio stations to close, allegedly for violating media licensing rules. The Kurdistan Region of Iraq has long been a haven for Arab Iraqi writers, according to Baghdad-based Salih. But he says that is changing. Now writers joke they can leave Baghdad for Erbil, but “what would we do in Erbil if we criticise the [ruling] Kurdistan Democratic party? Then no one would receive us.” Zebari, who was working for the opposition Wllat News in KRI, and Sherwani, a freelancer, were arrested after covering protests in Duhok, the KDP’s stronghold. The demonstrations focused on delayed public-sector salary payments. Reving Yassen, the journalists’ lawyer, said their trial was unfair. He pointed out that less than a week before their court date, the KDP’s head and regional premier Masrour Barzani told a press conference the defendants were spies: “Those who were detained . . . are neither activists nor journalists. Some of them were spies . . . for other countries . . . Some were saboteurs,” he claimed. The UN’s human rights office confirmed it observed the trial but has not yet given its verdict, and the regional government maintains that the judiciary is independent. But arresting journalists has become so common in KRI that the Committee to Protect Journalists, an international press freedom group, has called on the authorities to “cease harassing the media”. Back in the mountains, Zebari’s family insists he is innocent. His father says his son was writing as if “he was in a country with freedom of speech”. “For years I’ve been telling him, look, do not write these things, they will disappear you or kill you.” He sighs. “What I was expecting has happened.”

Officer Cadet from Kurdistan shares her pride after commissioning from RMAS Sandhurst

draw: My name is Officer Cadet Midya Masti. I'm honoured to be the first female from Kurdistan to graduate from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. I am a doctor at a military hospital back home in Kurdistan with a civil rank, but when I go back from here, I will be in the military. Originally, I was in the running for the regular course. I actually went through a number of interviews before I got selected and it was narrowed down to two people, me and another girl. The team from Sandhurst liked me and offered me the commissioning course instead and I was very interested in it. When I told my family, it was Sandhurst they just said, ‘you have to go’. I got a lot of briefings on how the commissioning course was going to be. They told me it was going to be all doctors, lawyers and padres, so I thought it was going to be very simple, but it wasn’t. To be honest the first two week were very challenging, especially the exercises, the sleeping in the cold and not being allowed to use lights. I would never ever have thought I could finish a course like that. Perhaps had they told me all this at the beginning, I might not have come, but then I wouldn’t be the person I am today – to be honest, I’m very proud. It was such an amazing experience; I’m honoured to graduate from here. I hope after this, more Iraqi, Iraqi Kurdish females could join and experience this amazing opportunity. My best memories will be the amazing people I met and the fact I graduated from here because all the royalties have been to this academy, so I am honoured to graduate from a place like this. Officer Cadet Midya Masti

Forgeries in Higher Education, there are Parliament Members on the List. .

Report by: Draw About 30 members of Kurdistan’s Parliament are studying in higher education with doing their parliamentary work at the same time, and this is against the legal regulations and contrary to the law. One of the parliament member’s names is on the list of dozens of others who have faked English Language Proficiency Certificates for the purpose of studying in higher education. According to the document “Draw” has obtained, a large number of higher education students have done forgeries. Written on the bulletin! In 2019, some names of higher education students were found on the bulletin board which was announced by the College of Arts at the University of Salahuddin, the students had faked English Language proficiency certificates. The list was removed on the bulletin of the College of Arts a few days later. According to the content of the written document, the names were placed on the blacklist by Salahaddin University for forgeries and their right to study was taken away from all universities in Kurdistan Region. In 2016, the Kurdistan Regional Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research decided that those who want to study Master or PhD must have an international English language certificate. From the time the decision was made, many types of deceptions and forgeries appeared to achieve the certificate. A group of university teachers and higher education students seeking to buy and fake the international English language certificate, especially (IELTS and TOEFL). According to the investigations, when Yousef Goran was the former minister of Higher Education in Kurdistan Regional Government's cabinet, hundreds of people have faked English language certificate in higher education studies, but the ministry and universities have largely hidden the list of the fraudulent people. The university teachers don’t have immunity, so they are legally treated as an employee. Crime of forgery has only regulated in the Articles 289 and 298 in the Iraqi Constitution, which states that frauds are dismissed from the job and no longer have the right to be re-employed. If the fraud is found guilty after a trial, the Judge will impose a sentence up to five years in prison. Members of the Parliament on the list of the frauds! Another written document from the Ministry of Higher Education is available in the previous cabinet, which emphasizes that for the 2016-2017 study year at Salahaddin University in Erbil, 24 higher education students have got fake English language certificate, who were studying at master and Phd’s level .Bahman Kaka Abdullah, the current member of Parliament from the Kurdistan Democratic Party, is on the list. Parliamentarian and Higher Education The issue is not just forgery. According to the decision of the Ministry of Higher Education and the Consultation Council, the parliamentarians of Kurdistan and Iraq, who have special ranks and positions in the ministries and offices of the regional government, they do not have the right to promote higher education, while they are in their positons. Both jobs cannot be completed at the same time. According to the investigations by “Draw”, despite the instructions from the Ministry of Higher Education and the Consultation Council, a large number of Kurdistan parliamentarians in the previous and current terms of the Kurdistan Parliament and government officials are studying inside and outside of Kurdistan. And this is against the instructions. But what is surprising is that the Ministry and the universities are taking no actions while these special ranks are studying. “Draw” has learned that in the current Kurdistan Parliament term, more than 25 members of Parliament are studying in higher education, which means they have two different jobs and it is against the law. Those who have a special ranks in higher education say that they were students before becoming parliamentarians or ministers and general directors, but this excuse is not legal, because according to the decision of the Consultation Council (No. 13 of 2014), they should have suspended their study at the time they became the member of the Parliament or started working in any other government positions. The decision shows that those who study during their parliamentary work, even their candidacies were illegal. Negative Effects (Damage) Those who have special ranks and are busy with their higher education studies, are harming public rights in some ways: • Receiving their allowance while they are studying Masters and PhDs for three years. • These people, who have special ranks, must attend their studies in Higher Education from morning to evening, which will leave their places in parliament, the ministry, government offices and other affairs closed and it will be harmful for the citizens in the region. • Doing two jobs together is disobeying the decision of the Consultation Council and the Ministry of Higher Education, and the law will be broken by the people who the special ranks. • The studies of the people who have special ranks increase the possibility of forgery in Higher Education, especially (scientific fraud), because no one can work five days a week and write a Master or PhD’s thesis. In this case, they may seek to find others to write their Master and PhD’s Thesis instead.

P.U. K uses gas as a pressure card against K.D.P

A report by :Fazil Hama Raffat and Muhammed Rauf. The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) is putting and testing a new pressure upon the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). PUK wants to fight against the “PDK oil” with natural gas and start a strong economic and political relationship with Baghdad. Now, part of the natural gas in PUK areas reaches Afghanistan from Chamchamal every day. More details in this report by “Draw” Does PUK make a decision? This month, the Political Bureau of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan will meet to discuss the latest PUK’s stance on its relations with the KDP. PUK asks for the implementation of administrative and financial decentralization for Sulaymaniyah Province, This project has not yet taken significant steps after a few months. PUK has given the KDP and the Prime Minister, Masrour Barzani ,the last permission to make their decision. If the project doesn’t start soon, it is said that PUK will make its final decision. PUK’s decision! PUK movements have recently increased in Iraq, Lahur Sheikh Jangi, PUK co-leader, has been in Baghdad several times and meets Mustafa Kazmi, the prime minister and other Iraqi officials. PUK wants to achieve a kind of decentralization to the territories which are under its rule through the Iraqi government. For this, PUK has brought up the gas file. There are three gas-rich areas In Iraq, the PUK-controlled area is one of the richest areas. PUK wants to use this gas to strengthen its economic and political position against the KDP-controlled areas, which is the leading oil producer in the region. According to “Draw” report, there is an idea in the PUK that has not yet been fully outlined. The idea is to build a company called the Sulaimaniyah Gas Company. It will be joint between Sulaimaniyah province and the Iraqi oil ministry and it controls all the oil and gas fields in the PUK-controlled areas (Taq Taq, Kor Mor, Hasira,and Chia Surkh), including the fields in Kirkuk and Khanaqin borders. "The PUK border gas can fill Iraq's internal needs and make Iraq no longer need to buy gas from Iran to operate power stations," said energy experts at the PUK. The Americans support this step and the United States has received guarantee from U.S. energy officials on this, but such a step may make Iranians worried and angry, especially when Kurdistan’s gas will be an alternative to Iran's gas in Iraq. In addition, 45,000 barrels of oil are produced daily in the PUK-controlled area, and the PUK wants to increase its oil investment level to 72,000 barrels per day through the agreement with Baghdad. PUK wants to do all this on the condition that Baghdad separately provide salaries separately for employees in the Sulaimaniyah border and deal directly with Sulaimaniyah province, not through the Kurdistan Regional Government and the KDP. This could be the reason that Masrour Barzani, the head of the regional government, recently said in front of the Kurdistan Parliament that some cases cannot be touched, as they may lead to the outbreak of civil war. To hand over gas and oil to Iraq, the PUK has resorted to Article 112 of the Iraqi constitution, which says oil and gas are run jointly between the federal government, the region and the provinces. In the PUK-controlled area in Garmian, there are two fields, Kurdamir and Topkhana, which are now escalated into conflict between the KRG and a company in the area of Sulaimaniyah (Petrolium Dynasti), the company is very close to the PUK. The Sulaimaniyah company in London Court has filed a lawsuit against Ashti Hawrami and wants to get a contract to invest in the fields, and in February this year, the Court will make its final decision, and if the Kurdistan Regional Government loses this case to the Dynasty Company, it will cause greater economic and political damage to the energy sector. The two fields, apart from oil, also has natural gas, but it has not been produced yet. Those who work for the PUK, dream of having the Turkish companies to invest gas in Garmian's fields and export it to Turkey after developing the fields and increasing the level of investment. It is unclear whether the Iraqi government will eventually reach such an agreement with the PUK. According to information achieved by “Draw” from some PUK officials that Mustafa Kazmi, the Prime Minister of Iraq, is in favour of this scheme, but the problem is that it is unclear whether Kazmi will stay as the Prime Minister or not, especially when Iraq is in front of a pre-election. Gas in Kurdistan Region According to the official website of the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Kurdistan Region has 200 trillion cubic feet (5.7 trillion cubic meters) of natural gas reserves, which is 3% of the world's gas reserves. But this is the reserve that has not been proven, as the region's proven natural gas reserves, according to U.S. energy reports are only 25 trillion cubic feet. The Oil Price magazine which is a specific publication about energy, reported that last year only 10 trillion cubic feet were found and worked on, which is now produced in the PUK border in Kor Mor. The natural gas of Kor Mor field in Chamchamal, is produced by the United Arab Emirates — Dana Gas Company. The company now produces 430 million cubic feet, which was 850 tonnes over the past three years, showing that the UAE company has increased its investment level. The Kurdistan Region's natural gas reserves are mostly in the PUK-controlled area. Generally and geographically gas can be found in the following areas: PUK-controlled area reserve: • Kor Mor Field: 8 trillion and 200 billion cubic feet Chamchamal Field: 4 trillion and 400 billion cubic feet Miran Field: 3 trillion and 46 billion cubic feet KDP-controlled area reserve: • Bina Bawi field: 7 trillion and 100 billion cubic feet • Khurmala: 2 trillion and 260 billion cubic meters • Palkanafield: one trillion and 600 billion cubic feet • Shekhan Field: 900 billion cubic feet • Pirmam Field: 880 billion cubic feet The Kurdistan Region's gas is transferred to Afghanistan Generally, kurdistan region's natural gas is still used for local needs, meaning it is used for fuel power stations and provide household gas. What is known so far is that the Kurdistan Region's gas is not transferred to another country, but according to the information “Draw” has gained from several sources at the Bashmakh border, the company that buys the gas of the Kor Mor Field, is illegally exporting 7 to 10 tanks of Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) daily and the gas is taken to Afghanistan In the past few days, the Washington Institute has published a report on the Kurdistan Region's gas content. The report was about the discussion between the American and Kurdish officials on the future of gas in the region. One of the people who spoke in the meeting was Matthew Zais. He is the principal deputy assistant secretary for the Energy Department's Office of International Affairs. Matthew says: Kurdistan Region can increase the annual level of natural gas investment to 40 billion cubic meters by 2035, compared to the current level of gas investment in the region which is 5 billion cubic meters annually. Matthew Zais has explained that co-operation in gas and electricity production may lead them to have better relationships. Kurdistan Region's capacity in the field of energy will reduce the complexity between the region and Baghdad over the annual budget. It will also improve the circumstances in the region by giving guarantees to the worldwide oil companies in the field of oil. Matthew Zais, in another part of his speech, points out that the Kurdistan Region's power grid (electricity) is essentially generated by gas and it is exported to Iraq. Exporting electric power form Kurdistan Region to Iraq is more reasonable than the other suggestion which have been proposed to solve Iraq's electric power problems, including the suggestion to link Iraq's electric power to the power grid of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) or Jordan. The US official expects that, like the region's oil exports to Turkey, the region's gas pipeline to Turkey will eventually be built, but he points out that Iran is constantly trying to restrict energy development in Iraq through its hegemony. Because according to him, Iran does not want Iraq to depend on its energy and electricity abilities. In addition, Iran is using its energy in Iraq for political purposes, so Iraqi officials must find a way to get rid of this challenge. The U.S. Consul General in Erbil, Rob Waller, said in the meeting that under the supervision of the U.S. Ministry of Energy, a recent study has been conducted on the fields in which the Kurdistan Regional Government can reform them in a way that can be rehabilitated and get benefit from them economically. One of the fields which was described in the research is the cooperation between Kurdistan Regional Government and the Iraqi Government in electricity sector which should be renewed with the development of gas sector. Changing the power stations that use diesel to natural gas leads to less cost and more production. The American council states that the cooperation between KDP and PUK is an important priority in the public policy of the United States to develop gas sector in the region. He said in spite of having the tensions in the region, recent protests have prompted both parties to admit that their cooperation will revitalize the region, Rob Waller said. Bahroz Aziz is a senior advisor to the Kurdistan Regional Government's Minister of Natural resources, attended the Washington Institute meeting and has mentioned the obstacles in front of the Kurdistan Region's gas field to develop. Aziz also said that developing Kurdistan Region's gas sector will result in the end of using generators to provide household electricity. The generators use diesel which pollute the environment and would be harmful for public health, and the development of this sector will provide job opportunities for the residents of the region. The presence of large amounts of Sulfur in the Kurdistan Region's natural gas is one of the obstacles to the development of the Kurdistan Region's gas field, said Bahroz Aziz. He also said having a lot of sulfur in the gas has paralyzed investment in the region's gas, this is alongside some other reasons such as the danger of ISIS and the spread of The Coruna virus. despite this situation, the senior advisor to the Kurdistan Regional Government's minister of natural resources is optimistic about the future of gas in the region, saying: "The region did not have the expertise and money to develop its oil sector at first, but it was able to attract international companies and achieved both. The Ministry of Natural Resources needed experience and leadership to implement the same tools in the development of gas resources.