Northeast of Baghdad, -- a steady
stream of foreign investors is already heading for Erbil to pay
tribute at the headquarters of Kurdistan’s regional government (KRG).
They are attracted by the promise of oil in a region relatively free
of violence and the KRG is obliging, awarding licences to several
exploration groups, including Western Oil Sands, a Canadian company,
and DNO, of Norway.
Last month, the Norwegians claimed the discovery of 100 million
barrels after testing their first well in an area close to the
border with Turkey.
The news created a storm in Baghdad, where resentment is growing at
the Kurdish authority’s decision to award licences independently of
the Oil Ministry in the Iraqi capital.
Hussein al-Shahristani, the Oil Minister, insisted that only his
ministry could hand exploration rights, while Sunni opponents of
independent-minded Kurds called for amendments to Iraq’s new federal
constitution, which gives extensive but sometimes contradictory
rights to both regional and federal authorities over the nation’s
hydrocarbons.
The KRG rejected the Baghdad interpretation and insisted that
regional governments had jurisdiction over undeveloped oilfields.
The DNO discovery has encouraged many who believe that the
geological trend that made the massive and ageing Kirkuk oifield
extends to the north and east. It would suggest that Iraq’s oil
reserves may be much greater than current estimates and it would, in
turn, give a huge economic boost to the Kurdish region.
That creates a political challenge for the KRG and a huge headache
for the central Government in Baghdad. Few doubt that the ultimate
goal of the Kurds is independence from their Sunni and Shia
countrymen, but for the time being the KRG is happy to engage in the
federal process and take advantage of American financial aid. As the
prospect of oil revenues draws nearer, calls for greater
independence may increase.
timesonline co.uk Top |
® 