Basra: Oil companies threaten to halt operations: We want our dues in dollars.
Basra: Oil companies threaten to halt operations: We want our dues in dollars.
2026-08-24
Shafaq News – Basra
On Monday, private companies operating in the oil sector in Basra Governorate threatened to halt their operations and lay off more workers, in protest against receiving payments for their contracts concluded in dollars in Iraqi currency at the official rate, stressing that the exchange rate difference is costing them losses exceeding 20%.
Aziz Al-Khalidi, a representative of the companies, told Shafaq News Agency during a demonstration organized by the companies that the companies carry out work for the benefit of the licensing rounds under contracts concluded in dollars, and transfer their dues in foreign currency to the Trade Bank of Iraq and private banks, but they receive them in dinars according to the official rate of 131,000 dinars per 100 dollars.
He added that companies are forced to buy dollars from the market to pay their financial obligations, at a time when the price of 100 dollars reaches about 155,000 dinars, causing losses exceeding 20%, which is equivalent to the expected profits of contractors working in this sector.
He explained that the Central Bank had previously granted companies two exceptions worth $70 million each, bringing the total allocated amount to $140 million, but the exception was only in effect for a month or two before it was cancelled.
He added that the companies later received an allocation of $30 million to cover their remittances and internal and external obligations, but the disbursement of the amount stopped, before the new administration of the central bank allowed it to continue for only one month.
He pointed out that most companies have reduced the size of the workforce in oil sector projects by up to 80%, due to their inability to bear the losses of the currency difference, warning of the cessation of work on licensing rounds and the dismissal of more workers if a mechanism is not put in place to ensure that companies receive their dues in dollars.
shafaq.com
