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Iraqi Parliament speaker says Kurdistan
has the right to sign oil contracts
10.3.2008
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March 10, 2008
Erbil-Hewler, Kurdistan Region 'Iraq',--
Speaker of the Iraqi parliament said in a press
conference, in Erbil on Monday, that the Kurdistan
region has the right to sign oil contracts with
foreign companies.
"This is according to the Iraqi Constitution,"
Mahmoud al-Mashahadani said, adding "in the
constitutional amendments committee,www.ekurd.net
some parties demand
having a central control over Iraq's oil resources,
and we are on our way to changing some
constitutional contexts."
Al-Mashahadani did not explain whether the
constitutional amendments would approve these
demands. |
Iraqi Parliament Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani |
In 2007, Kurdistan's regional government signed 15
contracts with foreign companies; a matter that
engendered a political problem between the regional
cabinet in Erbil – capital city of Kurdistan region,
and the central government in Baghdad – capital city
of Iraq.
Iraqi Minister of Oil Hussein al-Shahristani
considered the contracts "illegal," based on the
fact that they were approved prior to enacting the
Oil and Gas Law, and he decided to deprive foreign
companies that signed those contracts from
investments in the oil sector in other areas of
Iraq.
"The federal court will make the conclusive decision
concerning the oil contracts that Kurdistan has
signed with some foreign companies," al-Mashahadani
said.
Regarding the Oil and Gas Law, Al-Mashahadani said
"We finished with around 90% of the law, but some
technical and economic attributes remain, and for
these we are waiting for the coming parliamentary
term to proceed in discussions."
Many parliamentary and political parties oppose the
Oil and Gas Bill, drafted in July 2007 by the Iraqi
federal government of Premier Nouri al-Maliki.
Al-Mashahadani is affiliated with the Iraqi
Accordance Front (IAF), which is one of the entities
that opposes the oil and gas bill,www.ekurd.net
saying that this Act
offers unprecedented "privileges" for foreign
investors to construct oil and gas facilities and
refineries they can exploit over a period that can
reach up to 50 years, and that this legislation will
allow the regions of Iraq to dominate the resources
owned by the public.
VOI
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