|
Iraqi oil law not yet agreed, Kurds say
23.1.2007 |
|
|
|
January 23, 2007
LONDON - A new oil law in Iraq that was
announced as headed to cabinet for endorsement last
week has not yet been agreed and there is still much
that needs to be resolved, a minister in the
Kurdistan Regional Government said in an interview
published in the Financial Times on Tuesday.
“No, we have not” signed off on a draft of the
proposed law, Kurdistan’s Oil Minister Ashti Hawrami
told the business daily.
“Absolutely not.”
The law aims to distribute revenues from crude oil
exports equally in the 18 provinces and open the
sector to foreign investors.
An Iraqi oil ministry spokesman said last Wednesday
that the draft law will be submitted to the cabinet
for endorsement before being sent to parliament, and
said it had been approved by the energy committee.
“Several issues are not still resolved. The ministry
of oil statement is unfortunately premature,”
Hawrami was quoted as saying by the FT.
“The head of the (committee drafting the law) is
going to organise new meetings to address these
issues. Probably we will reconvene next week or
after to discuss the remaining issues,” he said.
According to the FT, Hawrami said that several
annexes as well as three associated laws governing
revenue sharing, the status of the national oil
company and the oil ministry’s new role had yet to
be drafted and agreed upon before the entire package
was ready.
Iraq’s oil reserves are concentrated in the Shiite
south and the Kurdish north, while Sunnis make up
the bulk of the population in the western regions of
the country which have no oil reserves.
Oil is the key driver of the Iraqi economy.
Iraq’s oil reserves, estimated at 115 billion
barrels, are the third largest in the world, behind
Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Since the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003,
Iraqi production has tumbled from 3.5 million
barrels per day to around two million.
AFP
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
® 