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Chalabi: Kurds must work with Baghdad on
Oil Deals
24.2.2006
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LONDON, Feb 24,
(Dow Jones)--Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad
Chalabi reiterated Friday that oil deals cut between
companies and provinces such as Kurdistan need to be
co-ordinated and approved by the Baghdad government.
In a statement sent to Dow Jones Newswires, Chalabi
said, "The regions and provinces, including the
Iraqi Kurdistan region, can negotiate contracts with
other parties, in coordination and consultation with
the federal government for the benefit of all the
Iraqi people."
His remarks follow news that Norwegian oil company
Det Norske OljeselskapDNO ASA (DNO.NS) will continue
drilling operations in Iraq's Kurdistan region in
the north.
DNO Managing Director Helge Eide told Dow Jones
Newswires earlier this month that drilling that
began in November would continue, and that contact
with the central government over the matter would be
handled by the Kurdistan Regional Government.
The KRG has already signed production sharing
agreements with companies including Turkey's PetOil
and General Energy and Australia's Woodside
Petroleum (WPL.AU). It has also signed a memorandum
of understanding for a field study and further
negotiations towards a PSA with Heritage Oil.
But Chalabi said Iraq's oil policy is shaped by its
constitution, which states that "oil and gas in Iraq
are the property of all the Iraqi people in all the
regions and provinces."
It also states that "the producing regions and
provinces jointly with the federal government will
draft strategic policies for the development of the
oil and gas wealth to achieve the highest benefit
for the Iraqi people," Chalabi added.
Therefore, "any such negotiations should be
conducted in a framework of openness and
transparency in accordance with the Constitution and
the laws of Iraq," he said.
Dow Jones
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