U.S. soldier stand guard to one of Iraq's oil facility

BAGHDAD , April 27 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Iraq 's oil ministry is getting ready to resume operations in this vital sector for reconstruction, but it is still waiting for a leader, a senior ministry official said.

"Some 20 percent of the ministry's staff in Baghdad have returned to work, as well as 75 percent of staff at the capital's refinery, in the southwestern suburb of al-Dora," Agence France-Presse (AFP) quoted the official as saying.

"We are waiting for somebody with clear authority, someone who is authorized to spend and repair the damage done," he said.

The former minister, general Amer Rasheed, is on the list of wanted Iraqi officials and has not been heard of since the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime, when U.S. forces captured the capital on April 9.

The New York Times said Friday the Pentagon had begun sending a team of Iraqi exiles to Baghdad to take up positions at each of the 23 ministries.

The senior Iraqi at the oil ministry will be Mohammad Ali Zainy, an engineer, said the newspaper.

For his part, Zainy said Iraqi oil sources were in charge of the finance department of the ministry when he left Iraq in the 1980s.

The Iraqi oil official added that the ministry building was looted after the fall of the capital, but U.S. forces moved quickly to stop it being set on fire, unlike many other government departments.

"All the computers, all the furniture are gone, the rest is destroyed. But it is better than the other ministries.

"We found bottles filled with cotton and alcohol in many offices. Someone was preparing to set the building on fire and then changed his mind or was prevented from doing so," he added.

The al-Dora refinery resumed operations one week ago. The refinery is now running at 30 to 40 percent of its 80,000 to 100,000 barrel per day (bpd) capacity.

Oil production from the southern fields resumed several days ago, but the crude is going to storage as the 170,000 barrel per day Basra refinery is still closed.

Iraq May Leave OPEC

In a related development, Iraq may have to leave the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) so it can pump out extra oil to pay for the country's reconstruction, The Guardian quoted a former Iraqi oil minister as saying Saturday. 

"The extra oil needed would be more than twice Iraq 's pre-sanctions OPEC quota and almost triple the present output of about 7 million barrels a day," said Fadhil Chalabi, who rejected a U.S. invitation to become interim head of his country's oil sector.

Chalabi, who served on the U.S. State Department's Future of Iraq Oil and Energy Working Group, says the Iraqi industry "must be privatized to attract foreign investment following the war."

" Iraq must maximize revenue from its oil. I would choose maximizing the revenue through oil, with or without OPEC," he said. "If it is within OPEC it would be better, but it may not be possible."

Chalabi, cousin of Ahmed Chalabi, the Pentagon's favorite choice to head the country, said he would be prepared to serve the Iraqi oil industry if a democratically elected government was in place.

He said selling off Iraq 's oil assets was the only way to secure investment in his country.

" Iraq is going to need a lot of money in the next five years, up to $300bn. Privatization or partial privatization is the way to secure this investment." 

The output of 7 million barrels a day is achievable in about six years. Such high production would, however, place a strain on Iraq 's relations with OPEC and threaten a slump in world oil prices.

Oil is vital for the reconstruction of Iraq as the country's only guaranteed source of revenue. Proven reserves are estimated at 112 billion barrels, the largest in the world behind Saudi Arabia .