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Iraq vows to block oil contracts signed by
Kurdistan Government
9.3.2008
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March 9, 2008
BAGHDAD,-- Baghdad will block any contracts
signed by foreign oil companies with Iraqi Kurdistan
regional authorities, Iraq's Oil Minister Hussein
Shahristani said on Saturday.
"All contracts will be handled by the central
government," he told a joint press conference in
Ankara with his Turkish counterpart Hilmi Guler.
"No contracts signed by any regions in Iraq will be
recognised by the government of Iraq. Companies will
not be allowed to work on Iraqi territory unless
their contract is approved by the central government
in Baghdad."
The government in Baghdad and authorities in the
autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq have been
at loggerheads over the issue for months. |
Dr. Hussein Shahristani, Iraq's Oil Minister |
In November the minister announced he had cancelled
around 15 oil contracts signed by the authorities in
Iraqi Kurdistan.
In response, Kurdistan Prime Minister Nechirvan
Barzani insisted the contracts would be honoured,www.ekurd.net
saying "nobody can
cancel contracts signed by Kurdistan", as his
government approved the signature of seven more oil
contracts.
The autonomous Kurdistan regional government in
northern Iraq has signed 15 exploration and export
contracts with 20 international companies since it
passed its own oil law last August, infuriating the
Baghdad government.
Shahristani has repeatedly said he considers the
contracts "illegal".
He has threatened the companies concerned that they
would not in future have the chance to work with the
Iraqi government, threats which have so far have not
been carried out.
AFP
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