By OGJ editors
WASHINGTON, DC, June 3 -- Oil technocrat Thamir Ghadhban is Iraq's new oil minister under a new interim government announced June 1.
An Iraqi exile with 20 years of experience with the state-owned Oil Marketing Association, Ghadhban ran the oil ministry immediately after US-led forces drove out Saddam Hussein in April 2003. Ghadhban stayed in that position for about 7 months and later continued on as an advisor when the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority named Ibrahim Bahr al-Ulum, a member of the country's Shiite Muslim majority, to the top post in November 2003.
Ghadhban is well-respected in the international oil community and is expected to leverage that goodwill to build relationships with potential foreign investors who are staying away for the short-term because of security concerns and profound political uncertainties.
Speaking with reporters June 1, US President George W. Bush indicated that Iraq oil production is now about 2.5 million b/d. But exports are not quite what US officials anticipated last year; Iraqi officials estimate levels to be about 1.8 million b/d.
Oil ministry officials expect production to increase to 3 million b/d by yearend, but it is unclear when or how levels will climb back up to the 3.7 million b/d peak capacity reached in 1979.
CPA is slated to cede power to the new government June 30 with a democratically�elected government to be phased in sometime in 2006, according to the latest Pentagon scenario.
But until that time, it is unclear who will control and monitor oil revenues. Interim Iraqi officials, along with international watchdog groups, want the US to give the Iraqi provisional government full authority over oil revenues and reconstruction, effective June 30.
The United Nations also wants to continue monitoring how petroleum revenue is spent while an interim government is in place.