Iraq MP: Kurds, government stall oil law.

This is from UPI. In spite of being one of the main "benchmarks" the oil law is still stuck almost a year after it was approved by the Iraq cabinet. The Kurds have just gone their own way and signed contracts themselves. The oil law seems not even to be in parliament!

Iraq MP: Kurds, government stall oil law


BAGHDAD, Jan. 10 (UPI) -- The leader of the Iraqi Parliament's Energy Committee has accused Iraq's Kurdish leadership and the national ministerial council of holding up a draft oil law.

Abdul Hadi al-Hassani also said the federal government should keep up the pressure against the Kurdistan Regional Government for moving forward unilaterally on developing its oil sector in the north.

"The Parliament awaits for the government's approval of any of the draft law's four copies," Hassani told the Voices of Iraq news agency. He blamed the holdup on politics.

The draft law has been under negotiation for more than a year and is stuck in disputes between the Kurds, who want decentralized control over the oil sector, and Iraqi Arab leaders who want the national government in charge.

The law has seen many ups and downs. It was approved last February. Then a dispute broke out over which oil fields would be under the central government's control. It's also been altered a number of times -- so much that two of the three original authors oppose it -- and there are now more than one version.

Hassani's comments appear to mean the law isn't before the Parliament, as previously thought, but a step behind in the legislative process, waiting for a final version from the council of ministers.

Hassani reiterated the national government's reference of the KRG deals as "illegal." The KRG has passed its own regional oil law and signed more than 20 deals in the past six months. It feels the national government is moving too slow.

"The central government can use its political relations with the neighboring countries to pressure the government of Iraq's Kurdistan region to cancel these contracts," he said.

The Oil Ministry, which has threatened to blacklist firms that signed with the KRG, has told a South Korean oil importer to decide between purchasing Iraq oil and being part of a consortium in a KRG deal.

Kurds adopt regional oil law

So the Kurds have done this without seeking approval of the central government. I wonder if this is really in accord with the Iraqi constitution. Also I understand that the region has already on its own signed contracts with several foreign oil companies without clearing this with the central government. More conflicts between the Kurdish region and the Iraqi central govt. are building but the central govt. cannot get its act together to respond effectively.

Wednesday, August 08, 2007


Iraqi Kurd government adopts regional oil law
Michael Sung at 8:56 AM ET



[JURIST] The semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government [official website] in Iraq has adopted the "Kurdistan Oil and Gas Law" after KRG Prime Minister Nechervan Idris Barzani [official profile] signed legislation Tuesday that will allow the Kurdish government to control its own oil resources and select its own foreign investors. The Kurdish government says that the law, passed by the Kurdistan National Assembly [press release] on Monday, is consistent with the Iraqi constitution [JURIST news archive]. The law requires the KRG to share oil revenues with the Iraqi federal government and other regions. Barzani hailed the law as "a historic moment" [press release], saying that the law will allow the people of the Kurdistan region to benefit from its natural resources and will also benefit the whole of Iraq.

The national Iraqi Council of Representatives [official website, in Arabic] entered into summer recess last week despite failing to pass key legislation [JURIST report] and constitutional amendments seen as essential to the stabilization of Iraq. The national draft oil revenue bill [JURIST news archive] has been delayed by successive legislative boycotts and is a source of tension [JURIST reports]. Sunni politicians have pushed for federal control over oil revenues and approval rights for foreign development, while Kurds have been adamant about retaining domestic control in oil resources. AP has more.