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Iraq oil law talks stall on right to
clinch deals
13.12.2006
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BAGHDAD, December
13, -- An Iraqi government committee drafting an oil
law has failed to agree whether regions or the
centre should sign deals on foreign investment and
it is up to political leaders to find a solution,
sources said on Wednesday.
Sources among Iraq's Shi'ite majority and close to
the talks said the chief sticking point was the
insistence of the ethnic Kurds, whose region
embraces the country's northern oilfields, that it
should have the right to control undeveloped
deposits.
"There is one outstanding issue and it needs a
political agreement," Deputy Prime Minister Barham
Salih, an ethnic Kurd who heads the Oil Committee,
said.
"We are trying to reach a compromise formula," he
told Reuters.
The contracts issue is vital to Iraq's future as a
solution favouring the regions would devolve power
over its most valuable resources to the majority
Shi'ites and the Kurds, who inhabit regions with
oilfields, weakening the central government.
"The law now awaits more talks between the Iraqi
government and the Kurdish region," Oil Ministry
spokesman Asim Jihad told Reuters.
The industry desperately needs foreign investment to
revive the shattered economy, which relies heavily
on oil export revenues. Iraq sits on the world's
third largest crude reserves.
Minority Sunni Arabs, who were the dominant group
under Saddam Hussein before the U.S.-led invasion in
2003, fear regional devolution will leave them with
nothing.
Even though the Shi'ites are dominant in the
southern region also containing major oilfields,
they have so far also opposed the Kurdish stance in
the talks.
"The first round of the talks has failed, now we are
waiting for the second round," a senior oil industry
source told Reuters.
The Oil Committee which includes the oil minister,
has agreed on more than 90 percent of the law.
Salih, who said talks will resume in a few days, was
hopeful the Iraqi officials would overcome their
differences.
He said the committee has agreed on oil revenue
sharing and on restructuring of the industry, which
he called key issues.
"We have not failed. The talks will resume in few
days, the oil law is the priority for the
government," he said.
Iraqi officials have always said that the law will
be delivered to the parliament to ratify by the end
of December. Salih said that officials were working
hard to meet the deadline.
Reuters
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