More on the Iraq Oil Law

This is from the Age an Australian newspaper. It does not give very much detail either but does mention some of the pitfalls of the law.


Cabinet endorses new oil law.

The endorsement reflected a major agreement among the country's ethnic and sectarian political blocs on one of Iraq's most divisive issues.

The draft law approved by the cabinet allows the central Government to distribute oil revenues to the provinces or regions based on population, which could lessen the economic concerns of the rebellious Sunni Arabs, who fear being cut out of Iraq's vast potential oil wealth by the dominant Shiites and Kurds.

Most of Iraq's crude oil reserves lie in the Shiite south and Kurdish north.

The law also grants regional oil companies or governments the power to sign contracts with foreign companies for exploration and development of fields, opening the door for investment by foreign companies in a country whose oil reserves rank among the world's three largest.

Iraqi officials say dozens of major foreign companies, including ones based in the United States, Russia and China, have expressed strong interest in developing fields or have done some work with the Iraqi industry.

The national oil law would allow regions to enter into production-sharing agreements with foreign companies, which some Iraqis say could lead to foreigners reaping too much of the country's oil wealth.

Iraqi officials say all such contracts will be subjected to a fair bidding process, but US inspectors have reported that the upper echelons of the Iraqi Government, including the senior ranks of the Oil Ministry, are rife with corruption.

There are also fears among non-Americans that US companies could be favoured. But oil industry analysts in the US say it is unclear if companies will rush to sign contracts because the law is vague about what legal protections investors would be given.

The oil law and several related measures must still be approved by Parliament before they are enacted. Post-2003-invasion Iraqi politics often has been split bitterly along ethnic and sectarian lines, and that kind of conflict could stall the law's passage