|
Iraq parl't sees more talks on draft oil law
15.4.2008
|
|
|
|
April
15, 2008
BAGHDAD, -- Iraq's government and Kurdish
officials will resume talks soon to try to iron out
disputes holding up a landmark draft oil law, the
deputy speaker of parliament said on Tuesday.
Khaled al-Attiya, a senior member in the ruling
Shi'ite Alliance, said parliament had not yet
received a final draft.
Iraq has the world's third-largest oil reserves and
needs billions of dollars of investment to overhaul
its infrastructure and boost output after years of
sanctions and war.
But the delay in approving a law to govern the
industry has held back investment. Iraq produces
around 2.3 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil,www.ekurd.net
a fraction of its 115
billion barrels of proven crude reserves.
Officials have said drafts of the oil law have been
submitted to parliament four times in the past year
only to be rejected by the legislature's oil and gas
committee.
"No, absolutely not. Parliament has not received any
approved oil draft yet," Attiya said in an
interview.
He said recent talks between the government and the
regional government of the largely autonomous region
of Kurdistan had focused on adopting a draft first
approved by the cabinet in February 2007. There have
been different drafts since then.
"Unfortunately, up to now no final decision has been
reached," Attiya said.
"The Kurds will resume another round of talks in
Baghdad when the prime minister returns. Many key
issues, including the oil and gas law, will be
discussed," he said.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is visiting Brussels
this week.
Attiya blamed oil contracts signed by the Kurdish
regional government with foreign firms for holding
up the draft.
Baghdad claims the deals are illegal and has said it
would bar companies that had signed contracts with
the Kurdish region from oil deals in the rest of the
country.
As a stop-gap measure, Iraq plans to award
short-term oil extraction and service contracts to
help boost production.
Attiya also denied reports parliament had received a
draft law on establishing Iraq's National Oil
Company. The oil and gas committee in parliament
also confirmed no draft for the formation of INOC
had been submitted.
Part of the overall draft oil law calls for the
formation of a new national oil company to supervise
the industry.
Copyright, respective author or news agency, Reuters
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
® 