Iraq’s first EITI report raises as many questions as it answers

Iraq’s first EITI report raises as many questions as it answers


1/18/2012 5:27 PM

BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: Iraq issued its first report under the EITI mechanism just before the New Year and it was circulated last week in English, Arabic and Kurdish.

It’s the first formal deliverable in Iraq’s participation in the transparency scheme since it signed up two years ago.

Price Waterhouse Cooper reconciled financial reporting from Iraq’s monopoly oil marketing organization SOMO, and the 34 companies that bought its oil in 2009 for sums totaling $41.3 billion.

The result is interesting reading but raises as many questions as it answers, about Iraq’s selling process and the various stages in it, why many company reports were submitted without executive sign-off, as stipulated in the process and, most curiously, why the Federal Reserve Bank of New York failed to send account statements for Iraqi oil receipts despite repeated requests over a period of many months.


The report follows the EITI norm of building transparency step by step, but a critical point remains because of the unique nature of this first report, which was restricted merely to the sale of oil: will Iraq be asked to report on any of the billions of dollars of activity in the upstream inside the country before it is reviewed for – and possibly granted – compliant status?

selling oil under the table uh'?...

One of the repeated complaints by the IAMB in their audits and reports was the failure of Iraq to install the oil meters. Even their last report when control of the DFI was turned over to COFE, was the lack of oil meters. Yes, I do believe that oil was being sold that was not reported. If not reported, they did not have to pay 5% to Kuwait. Also don't forget the in-kind transactions that was addressed in the Dec/2010 resolution. I have commented in other threads that this was a new requirement the Security Council laid on Iraq. They would have to pay 5% to the compensation fund for any transactions involving the trade of oil for products or services. Iraq lodged a complaint but was told to set up the procedures and get it done.

i do sorta remember the IAMB talk about the oil meters....now like everything else that is/is not on paper is coming to haunt them......thanx Wind for pointing that at!!

windreader1 wrote:One of the repeated complaints by the IAMB in their audits and reports was the failure of Iraq to install the oil meters. Even their last report when control of the DFI was turned over to COFE, was the lack of oil meters. Yes, I do believe that oil was being sold that was not reported. If not reported, they did not have to pay 5% to Kuwait. Also don't forget the in-kind transactions that was addressed in the Dec/2010 resolution. I have commented in other threads that this was a new requirement the Security Council laid on Iraq. They would have to pay 5% to the compensation fund for any transactions involving the trade of oil for products or services. Iraq lodged a complaint but was told to set up the procedures and get it done.

If and when they will actually implement it remains to be seen..they sure make a lot of noise about getting out of CH7, but do nothing to actually satisfy the UN stipulations regarding it. thx Wind

always had the thought Iraq would neither account for how much or pump at capacity until they made headway on the Kuwait debt.