|
Iraqi Kurdistan parliament passes its oil
and gas bill
6.8.2007
|
|
|
|
August 6, 2007
Erbil-Hewler, Kurdistan region (Iraq), --
Iraq's Kurdistan parliament passed on Monday the
draft law of oil and gas concerning the "northern
Iraqi region" after more than a month of debate.
"Kurdistan parliament adopted today all articles
concerning the region's oil and gas draft law after
a debate that continued for eight extraordinary
sessions," Kurdistan MP Ariz Abdullah said.
The 62-article-bill was endorsed after amendments
were made to some articles, Abdullah said.
Meanwhile, the media spokesman for the Kurdistan
parliament Tareq Jawhar said "following extensive
discussions and crossing out five articles from the
oil and gas draft law, the bill was passed in
today's session."
The media spokesman added "the House also added two
more articles to the adopted draft law concerning
allocating part of the oil revenues to save
environment and to families of victims killed under
the previous regime."
The 111-seat-Kurdistan parliament is composed of two
major blocs, the Green represented by members of the
Talabani-led Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and the
Yellow represented by members of the Barzani-led
Kurdistan Democratic Party.
The blocs were named after the colors they adopted
during the first general election held in Kurdistan
region in 1992.
There is also another draft law on oil and gas in
the whole country, which expected to be discussed in
the Federal parliament in September after it will be
back from recess.
According to the presented oil draft law to the
central parliament, there should be no contradiction
between the oil law, if passed by the central
parliament, and that adopted by regions, otherwise
the law adopted by the Iraqi House will be the
effective.
The draft oil and gas law for the management of oil
resources is considered one of the most
controversial issues in Iraq, and there are
differences among political blocs on the law
regarding the equitable distribution of revenue.
The law, if approved by parliament, will give Iraqi
and foreign investors the right to set up
establishments and oil refineries and use them for
50 years.
Most of Iraq's known oil reserves are located in the
Shiite-dominated south and the Kurdish north of
Kurdistan region.
Iraq sits on the world's third-largest oil reserves
and officials have sought, since last year, to
finalize the draft law.
The law is vital for attracting foreign investment
to Iraq, to boost its oil output and rebuild its
economy.
The Kurdistan regional government has signed several
agreements with foreign companies regarding
investments in the oil sector.
VOI
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
® 