Input for New Required Reports to Congress on Energy

UNCLAS BAGHDAD 000646 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EEB AND NEA/I E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ENRG SENV APER ABUD IZ SUBJECT: Input for New Required Reports to Congress on Energy REF: STATE 010743 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED, NOT FOR INTERNET ¶1. (U) This report is prepared per reftel request under Sections 931(b) and (d) of the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007, requiring a description of the Department of State personnel who are dedicated to energy matters at the U.S. Embassy in Iraq, a major energy producer. The priority given to Iraq reconstruction and stabilization efforts dictates a continuing need for a strong presence in Iraq of federal personnel specializing in energy issues. Iraq has the third largest deposit of proven petroleum reserves in the world. Petroleum production accounts for over sixty percent of Iraqi gross domestic product, and petroleum exports account for approximately ninety percent of the Iraq central government budget. The U.S. Department of Energy already has created an energy attache office in Iraq, staffed with two professionals. ¶2. (SBU) Answers to the questions posed by reftel are listed below. --A. Which section or sections of the Embassy handle energy matters? What is the total number of staff in this section or sections? The economic section has primary responsibility for energy policy issues within the Embassy. The economic section has fifteen employees in total, of which one is dedicated full time to energy issues. In addition to the policy responsibility, Iraq is unique due to the ongoing reconstruction effort, and so the economic section also shares operational oversight of various Iraq Ministries, including the relevant ministries of Oil, Electricity, Planning and Development Cooperation, and Water. To assist in the operational element, the Embassy also maintains the Iraq Transition Assistance Office (ITAO) which has separate oil, electricity, and water assistance units. The Office of Provincial Affairs (OPA), which manages the Regional Embassy Offices, Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) and embedded PRTs (ePRTs),oversees a number of regional and local projects for the electricity and petroleum sectors. To place the USG reconstruction effort in proper context, it is important to add that there is a significant military component, including the Army Corps of Engineers Gulf Regional Division and an Energy Fusion Cell (but the military contribution is beyond the requirements of this report). --B Please identify the positions of employees that work on energy matters and specify the percentage of time that such employees devote to energy matters. Economic section: 1 economic officer: 90 percent of the time; 1 economic officer: 10 percent of the time; 3 direct-hire energy consultants (3161s): 100 percent of the time; 1 DOE consultant on long-term detail to State: 60 percent of the time; 1 economic counselor: 15 percent of the time; 1 OMS: 5 percent of the time; 1 TCN: 10 percent of the time; 1 FSN: 10 percent of the time. Coordinator for Economic Transition (CETI): 1 Ambassador: 10 percent of the time; 1 Chief of Staff: 5 percent of the time; 1 OMS: 5 percent of the time; Iraq Transition Assistance Office (ITAO): 3 oil consultants: 100 percent of the time; 10 electricity consultants: 100 percent of the time; 1 OMS: 100 percent of the time. (NOTE: ITAO replaced the former Iraq Reconstruction Management Office, IRMO, which also had in FY 2007 six oil consultants, three of whom moved to ECON as 3161s). Office of Provincial Affairs (OPA): 4 economic officers: 100 percent of the time; 11 economic officers: 5 percent of the time; 1 electricity consultant: 100 percent of the time; (plus 2 as yet unfilled slots for oil consultants) USAID: 2 Foreign Service officers (director and deputy of Capacity Building Office): 10 percent of the time; 1 Energy Advisor (institutional contractor): 100 percent of the time; As of January 2008, Capacity Development contractor staff: 20 energy advisors (working with both ministries of oil and electricity) 100 percent of the time; Chief of Party (overall head of project) estimated 20 percent of the time; Other project staff (life support, administration, security, training and other technical assistance staff) estimated 10 percent of the time. --C. Please provide a brief narrative description of the positions of employees that work on energy matters (econ officer, EST counselor, FSN, etc.),the kinds of work they do (for example, report on oil ministry, contact with oil companies, energy dialogues, civilian nuclear programs),and any special information about their qualifications. Energy issues are guided by the Coordinator for Economic Transition in Iraq (CETI),who also directs the activities of nine economic entities in the Embassy: the Economic Section, the Energy Attache, Treasury Attache, Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS),Foreign Commercial Service (FCS),Health Attache, Iraq Transition Assistance Office (ITAO),Transportation Attache, and USAID, with the goal of promoting an open, diversified, and expanding Iraqi economy. Per NSPD 36 of 5/11/04, which states the Chief of Mission is responsible for the supervision and general direction of all assistance for Iraq, CETI also oversees USACE/GRD reconstruction projects, many of which have been in the energy sector. Day to day management of energy issues is led by the Petroleum and Energy Infrastructure Chief, an economic officer who coordinates energy policy issues with the relevant sections of the Embassy and with Coalition Forces. The incumbent supervises a junior economic officer as well as the four senior energy consultants forming the Economic Section's Oil Group, and is directly supervised by the Economic Counselor. The junior economic officer, at present an attorney with previous experience in the petroleum industry, has an active portfolio concentrating on other economic sectors, but is often called upon for projects to support the Petroleum and Energy Infrastructure Chief. The DOE consultant has an M.S., B.S. Petroleum Engineering, minor Business Management, and B.S. Geological Engineering, has been in Iraq for 5 years, and had 23 years experience in the petroleum industry, including production, drilling, and facility engineering; operations, maintenance, gas processing, crude and gas sales, plus criminal investigation and law enforcement. The Oil Exploration & Production Consultant has a B. S. & M. S. in Geology and thirty-two years of world-wide, technical and managerial, experience in the oil industry, including twenty-five years service with a major oil company. The Oil Analyst Consultant has 28 years of broad based oil experience at the technical and senior management levels. Another Senior Oil Consultant has a BSME and over 35 years experience (28 in the Middle East Oil & Gas industry including Saudi Aramco) primarily within program management, process and technical areas. With regard to the type of work performed, unlike most other posts, Embassy Baghdad operates in an active war zone. Travel outside the International Zone entails extraordinary security measures. Contact with Iraqi officials is consequently difficult, but the officers and consultants maintain contact as regularly as possible to provide technical advice and assistance; report on developments, plans, and obstacles; and support the ongoing transition. USAID maintains two compounds for its contractors to facilitate engagement with and training of Iraq government officials. A new team of USAID contractor energy advisors was mobilized in January 2008 as part of the civilian surge for ministerial capacity development; they will work with the oil and electricity ministries on energy related problems and capacity building in areas of public administration, including budget execution. Officers at the regional offices and PRTs, under the management of the Office of Provincial Affairs (OPA),maintain contacts subject to the prevailing conditions of the battle space, and provide both technical assistance and direct project support. At present, civilian nuclear programs are handled by the office of the Energy Attache in Baghdad. --D. Budget: Please provide the amounts of State Department funds, including salary costs (prorated as applicable),spent by your post in FY 2007 on energy-related activities in two categories: ---personnel State Department expenditures in FY 2007 on energy-related activities in Iraq for personnel is especially difficult to estimate, since personnel levels varied so much over the course of the year, but probably exceeded USD 2 million. USAID expenditures were approximately $300,000 total (2 Foreign Service officers, director and deputy director of Capacity Building Office: approximately $20,000 and $30,000, respectively; 1 Energy Advisor, institutional contractor: approximately $250,000). ---programs State Department expenditures in FY 2007 on energy-related activities in Iraq for programs exceeded USD 1.181 billion, primarily via IRRF programs. ESF funds for contractors were used as well, but once ESF funds are apportioned to USAID, they no longer constitute State Department funds, nevertheless, in order to provide a more complete understanding of the USG effort in Iraq, USAID Capacity Development contractor staff expenditures in FY2007 reached $600,000 (two advisors, approximately $300,000 each). CROCKER