Alienation and estrangement of the competencies and experts did not make them to forget their homeland – Iraq, which has become under the pressure of corruption and political and economic confusion , and the absence of a clear strategy of moving Iraq toward progress and prosperity.
In the Turkish city of Istanbul , the Iraqi Forum for elites and competencies were met away from the land of the motherland, which lives in their hearts, to discuss the concerns of the nation and try to heal the wounds left by the hands of abusers and dealers of homelands, and bearing in their eyes the interests of Iraq only, without seeking personal interests.
About a year ago, it was announced the birth of the Forum on October 31th 2014, in the city of Istanbul for the establishment of ( Iraqi Forum for elites and competencies) as the first gathering of the distinctive intellectuals and competencies, and as the first independent professional organization of Iraqi technocrats with various academic discipliners and professional specialties .
The objective of the founding of this Forum comes in accordance with a common desire among these competencies and intellectuals and professors of national universities, to communicate and discuss the concerns of the motherland, and to provide the necessary studies to bring back Iraq to a level befitting to its history and civilization and reputation, and expected that the forum to attract all competencies that are capable of serving the country. And bring together the Iraqi competencies and ensure communication between them to benefit from their expertise across a range of tools and instruments , channels and means referred to in the rules of procedure stressing that the diversity of disciplines and skills of the participants in the conference will enable them to work on lifting Iraq out of the ongoing crisis .
The statute of the Forum , called that the headquarters of the Forum is in Baghdad , but has to be nowadays in Turkish city of Istanbul because of the current security and political situation in Iraq, which is unstable , and that caused the deportation of scientists and experts because of civil wars and the liquidation of scientists who served Iraq and its people.
The forum has committees on legal, economic, educational and other management, statistics and strategic planning, energy, humanities and social sciences and others .
A confusion in the oil policy and the collapse of the Iraqi economy
Iraq is a country of oil, which ranks second on the level of global reserves of oil, which is the sole supplier of its revenue and hard currency and 95% of its budget, and it has become a country which is exhausted by the corruption ,and the dealers of homelands who took over the remainder of the bounties of Iraq since the fall of Iraq in 2003 under US occupation which has become a painful economic reality and its future is bleak.
A forum for elites and competencies of Iraq tackled in this meeting the difficult and the horrible situation through which Iraq is passing and the financial crisis that beset it, and the deterioration of the oil industry defining the specific kinks and weaknesses, through a group of experts and economists residing inside and outside the country.
During the meeting, which brought together a group of specialists and experts in the field of oil, gas and energy who nostalgically remembered the past when the oil industry in Iraq was in the best case, in spite of the blockade and the subsequent occupation of the country in 2003, and how Iraq has become today and its economy and destiny a plaything in the hands of a indifferent groups to the interests of Iraq and its people, and who stole the resources of the country and waste it for their personal interests, as well as make the country as an arena for external interventions.
Mohammed al-Jubouri, the former Sumo director of the company recalled the history of the company before 2003 , and that it was working in full swing , and depending on national human resources, referring to the Labor accuracy and regularity of appointments noting that the delay to export was very rare or disrupt tankers, but today the company is incurring large sums about dollar on each barrel due to the delay of shipments and waiting oil tankers for up to 51 days, and up the number of tankers waiting to 18 tanker which caused a fine on Iraq and lead to a reluctance of companies due to the lack of commitment to the time of export and they were cautious of the marketing policy of the Iraqi oil company “Sumo”, which cost the Iraq heavy losses if we take into account that the oil prices are falling down now.
Al- Jubouri dealt with the provisions of the Ministry of Oil for 2016 which have been allocated $ 16 billion for benefits for companies, and points out that this figure will lead to financial problems if we assume that the price of a barrel of oil of $ 7, and the 2.5 million barrel just to pay off the companies, and there are salaries worth $ 47 billion, and confirms that these figures portend a real financial crisis, especially the price of a barrel is not in line with the prices in the market.
The oil expert Saadallah al-Fathi talked about the excesses that occur in the oil sector, and touched the looting and theft occurred on the Baiji refinery and sale of its equipments and smuggling it , noting that the security and political situation in Iraq is unstable, and is reflected in the economy and the finance as result of low oil prices and its impact on the budget and investment.
and he tackled the oil industry and what it was in the past, referring to what it is reached today of a deliberated neglect and vandalism of the oil , warning that Iraq is facing a real crisis, because of the confusion and lack of strategic planning, and the spread of corruption and lack of transparency, which threatens of the risky future .
He warned of the danger of investing heavy amounts in increasing the enormous output of Iraq that will not be of much benefit for Iraq which is reflected on the oil projects that its costs were not reduced with the decline in oil prices, and therefore Iraq reap the losses on both sides; along with oil prices, along with production costs, which the Iraqi government must review its policies to avoid these enormous losses resulting from this reality.
The oil expert Faleh Al-Khayat noted to the burdens that the licensing rounds adds to the oil sector after falling oil prices, stressing the need of the oil companies to contribute to bear the burden of the general budget to cope with difficult economic conditions experienced by the Iraq.
According to Dr. Khayat , Iraq today is in need of qualified experts to cope with the crisis experienced by Iraq, and the organization of the oil sector and protect it from the hands of abusers, which requires the presence of Iraqi national specialists.
And the former oil minister, Dr. Isam Chalabi reviewed the history of the Iraqi oil industry, and she light on the luminous stations in the history of oil production and industry of Iraqi oil, and the achievements made during decades of the pre-American occupation in 2003 , and comparing them with years of decline and confusion that followed this date to this day, and here shows that it must be taking the matter to the high level of responsibility as to save Iraq from imminent economic collapse.
This is the tip of the iceberg, which were dealt by Iraqi experts in the meeting, putting their experiences and competencies on the table, stressing their readiness to support Iraq with their information and experiences that may be useful in the event of existence of a serious Iraqi government to remedy the danger that hits the Iraqi economy as a whole.
We note that in general the Oil production rate in Iraq in the days of the siege and before is much better than the current rates, which highlights the differences in the volume of production which puts Iraq in economic crises and increases the burden as a result of the cut.
At this meeting, experts and economists are sounding alarm for the future of the Iraqi economy and the oil sector In particular, Iraq is today facing the roughest crises in its modern history, and in the light of this confused reality and loss of economic compass, it is necessary for the Iraqi government to realize the imminent danger that plagues all economic sectors, especially the oil sector.
Based on what is mentioned above we conclude that the Iraqi oil sector lives a very difficult period due to a decline of the World oil prices to below $ 30 a barrel, and the absence of the rational oil policy over successive Iraqi governments, and the neglect and corruption that has exhausted the economy and making it to lose a lot of revenue, which made Iraq today to live the worst economic stages, and now Iraq and its economy is in real danger.
Amer Al-Amran
Rawabet Center for Research and Strategic Studies