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Nechirvan Barzani: Kurdistan will continue
with the oil contracts and they will be implemented
26.11.2007
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Iraqi
Kurdistan government defy Baghdad on oil deals
November 26, 2007
Erbil-Hewler, Kurdistan Region, 'Iraq', --
The autonomous Kurdistan regional government in
'northern Iraq' defied Baghdad on Monday, vowing to
sign more contracts with international oil firms
despite the national government's opposition.
"The (regional) government will continue with the
contracts and they will be implemented," its prime
minister Nechirvan Barzani said.
"No one can cancel any contract of the KRG
(Kurdistan regional government) signed with foreign
companies," a defiant Barzani told reporters in the
regional capital Erbil.
Iraqi Oil Minister Hussain Shahristani has declared
all oil contracts between the Kurdish administration
and foreign companies null and void, saying they
have been signed illegally in the absence of a
national oil law. www.ekurd.net
Barzani insisted the contracts are legal and fall
within the provisions of the region's constitution.
The Kurdistan government has inked 15 exploration
and export contracts with 20 international companies
since it passed its own oil law in August,
infuriating the Baghdad government.
The regional government says the contracts will
benefit all Iraqis as 85 percent of the returns from
the deals will be for Iraq and the rest will go to
the contractor.
Iraq's oil and gas bill is stalled in the national
parliament amid bitter differences between rival
factions. |
Nechirvan Barzani, Prime
Minister of
Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)
Kurdistan Regional Government. |
When approved, the new
law will open up Iraq's long state-dominated oil and
gas sector to foreign investment.
It will also stipulate that receipts be shared
equally between Iraq's 18 provinces, a key concern
for the Sunni Arab minority that Washington says has
fuelled the anti-American insurgency. www.ekurd.net
Iraq's oil reserves -- the world's third largest --
lie mainly in the Kurdish north and Shiite south and
the Sunnis fear the two communities could monopolise
future income.
AFP
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