Page 12 - DMEA Week 38.pdf

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on Wednesday.
With the reconstruction of Iraq underway
after the clearing of the strongholds of the Islamic State, the envoy urged Indian firms to take up opportunities in areas such as infrastructure, healthcare, education, power generation and pharmaceuticals.
Pradhan was earlier expected to visit Iraq in mid-September but the trip was put off as his Iraqi counterpart was travelling. He is now expected to visit Baghdad within the next two weeks and subsequently co-chair a meeting of the bilateral joint commission in New Delhi in November – the first since 2013.
“We are interested in Indian investments for the joint development of energy resources and our refineries,” Abdulsada said at an interaction with a small group of journalists.
For the second consecutive year, Iraq was India’s top crude oil supplier in 2018-19, meeting more than a fifth of the country’s oil needs. Official data showed Iraq sold 46.61 million tonnes of crude to India from April 2018 to March 2019, 2% more than the 45.74 million tonnes supplied in 2017-18.
Saudi Arabia has traditionally been India’s top oil source but it was dethroned by Iraq for the first time during 2017-18.
Abdulsada said Iraq’s annual oil exports to India were worth about $25 billion. With oil supplies from Iran drying up because of US sanctions, Iraq is keen to provide more crude to India, he said.
The envoy also said Iraq is ready to mediate between Iran and Saudi Arabia to reduce tensions between the two countries. “Countries of the region can sit and resolve problems,” he said. He added that Iraq is opposed to Israel’s participation in “any international forces in the gulf ”.
Iraq is also looking at the possibility
of increasing direct flights to India by its national carrier Iraqi Airways. About 80,000 Iraqis come to cities such as New Delhi, Pune, Bengaluru and Chennai every year for medical treatment, drawn by lower costs,
professional facilities and similarity in culture.
hindUstan times
Bahrain says oil refinery unaffected by Saudi attacks
Bahrain’s oil refinery has not been affected by attacks that disrupted Saudi crude exports earlier this month, Bahrain’s Oil Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa al-Khalifa said in a statement on Wednesday.
Bahrain’s oil imports from Saudi Arabia have now returned to normal, the statement said.
Some units in the oil refinery are under maintenance, reducing its capacity, but reserves of oil products are sufficient to meet clients’ needs in the long run, it added. ReUteRs
eneRGy tRansition
EBRD may fund Lebanese network upgrade
The european Bank for reconstruction
and Development (eBrD) is considering providing an $80mn sovereign loan to Lebanon to fund state-owned utility electricite du Liban’s electricity transmission network improvements.
The proceeds of the loan as well as a $7.3mn grant will be used to finance capital expenditures to upgrade and reinforce the electricity grid in the north of Beirut including the establishment of three new 220kV substations, which will be linked by 220kV underground cables. Two of the substations will be constructed at existing substation sites, while the third will be established on a state owned land plot.
The project will contribute to the reinforcement of the electricity grid in
anticipation of the additional electricity generation capacity to be added in the next few years and therefore improve the electricity sector’s sustainability.
Sanctions prevent Tehran
accessing equipment to
counter flaring, pollution
Iran’s Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh has expressed frustration that US sanctions have prevented Tehran accessing equipment it has purchased to stop flaring natural gas and counter dangerous pollution caused by energy plants.
“We have bought equipment to stop flaring gas but we cannot receive it because of sanctions. I think this is a crime against humanity by [US President Donald] Trump as we are prevented from using equipment against environmental pollution. It is his guilt and responsibility,” Zanganeh told state television on September 24.
His remarks came in the week of the UN’s Climate Action Summit 2019 held in New York, which Trump was criticised for paying scant attention to.
US sanctions have prevented foreign companies from entering into huge volumes of business that Iran requires to help it equip and modernise its oil and gas sectors.
The country has the world’s second largest gas reserves and fourth biggest oil reserves.
Turkey “barely trying” to cut carbon emissions
So how’s Turkey doing in meeting its commitments to cutting carbon emissions? Not so well, it seems. According to National geographic it’s among several countries that
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Week 38 26•September•2019