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Iraqi Kurdistan government says Iraqi oil
minister's threats "illegal"
16.11.2007
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November 16, 2007
Erbil-Hewler, Kurdistan region 'Iraq', -- The
Iraqi Kurdistan region's government said on Friday
that statements attributed to Iraqi Oil Minister
Hussein Shahristani in which he threatened to
ban oil companies' contracts dealing
with the autonomous government were "illegal and
won't intimidate companies that have contracts with
the region's government."
"The companies dealing with the region's government
will go ahead with their contracts," the spokesman
for the Iraqi Kurdistan government, Jamal Abdullah,
said in statements published on the autonomous
Kurdistan government on Friday.
"Shahristani's statements were neither legal nor
responsible," said Abdullah.
The mass media on Thursday quoted Shahristani as
saying that oil companies that have contracts with
the government of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region without
the prior approval of Iraq's central government
would be prohibited from practicing their activities
in Iraq and oil exporting.
"The Iraqi government had warned these companies
from the consequences – that is Iraq will never
allow them to export oil to be extracted from their
oilfields," Shahristani was quoted by the mass media
on the sidelines of the ministerial meeting of the
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
hosted by the Saudi capital Riyadh on Thursday. www.ekurd.net
The Iraqi Kurdistan Region's government had signed
seven contracts with foreign oil corporations
despite the central government's objection and ahead
of the Iraqi parliament's final endorsement of the
draft law on oil.
The Iraqi Kurdistan government's spokesman accused
the Iraqi parliament of "procrastination" as far as
adoption of the new draft law on oil was concerned.
Shahristani had said adoption of the draft law on
oil might be delayed for several months due to
"differences" among the parliamentary blocs.
"Adoption of this draft would help pump new
investments in this sector," Shahristani said while
presiding over the 4th session of the international
symposium for the OPEC summit in Riyadh on Thursday.
Iraq's oil ministry had asked parliament in June
2007 to debate the draft law which organizes the
distribution of the country's oil revenues. The
administration of U.S. President George W. Bush had
also urged the Iraqi parliament to speed up passing
"this important legislation."
Shahristani pointed out that Iraq was planning to up
its production capacity to three million barrel per
day (bpd) in 2009, adding Iraq's current production
hit two million bpd from 1.8 million bpd in October
2007. www.ekurd.net
"Next year's budget allocated two billion dollars
for investment in the oil sector with the aim of
enhancing production," said the minister.
OPEC was still working on bolstering supplies, which
requires exporters to provide 1.5 bpd to keep up
with such immense growth, he said.
"The rise in the price of oil barrel to 100 dollars
is considerable if it is compared to the rates of 25
years ago, taking into account the high inflation
rates, the decrease in the dollar exchange rate and
the increase in production costs," explained
Shahristani.
He said Iraq would work on upping production by half
a million barrels per day on an annual basis,
stressing that ebb in "terrorist" operations
targeting Iraqi oil pipelines would help enhancing
exports.
VOI
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