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Iraqi Kurdistan not content with draft oil
law
7.4.2008
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April 7, 2008
Erbil-Hewler, Kurdistan region 'Iraq', -- The
Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) are unlikely to
accept the draft oil and gas law, Pro-Patriotic
Union of Kurdistan daily Aso reported on 5 April,
quoting a Kurdish MP.
Iraqi oil and gas commission member Bayazid Hasan of
the Kurdistan Alliance bloc told the paper that the
Kurds were "not happy about the many amendments made
to the draft oil and gas law".
Bayazid Hasan, part of the Kurdistan Alliance bloc
in Iraq's Parliament, said the version agreed to by
the Kurdistan Regional Government in February had
been altered in the political process.
"The draft that was presented to the Iraqi
Parliament is not the same as the one the KRG and
the Iraqi premier politically agreed on in February
2007," he told the Aso newspaper, which is
politically aligned with the Patriotic Union of
Kurdistan, one of the two leading Kurdish parties in
Iraq. "Hence, passing the law has become a problem."
He accused the Iraqi parliament of silence over the
amendments, of which, he said, the parliament was
well aware.
He said: "The draft that was presented to the Iraqi
parliament is not the same as the one the KRG and
the Iraqi premier politically agreed on in February
2007. Hence,www.ekurd.net
passing the law has
become a problem."
Hasan suggested that the draft might have been
amended by the Iraqi Oil Ministry.
He explained that the KRG demanded "the oil
companies should be independent managerially and
financially; the Kurds do not accept the companies
to be supervised by the Iraqi oil minister even if
they are linked to the KRG".
Last week Abdul-Hadi al-Hasani, the deputy chair of
Parliament's Oil and Gas Committee, told United
Press International there were renewed negotiations
over a draft law governing development and
investment in Iraq's oil sector.
Four different versions of the law have been stuck
in the committee since last July. The dispute is
mainly over differing opinions of foreign investment
in the oil sector and the level of central versus
decentralized government control over the oil
strategy.
"Shortly, we'll see a new draft which there is more
common ground," said Hasani. The latest draft is
based on "good dialogue" between the central and
Kurdistan region governments, he said, and the
Council of Ministers will soon approve it and send
it to his committee.
Information for this report was provided by, Aso
Newspaper, Kirkuk, in Sorani
Kurdish 5 Apr 08, pp 1,2.| UPI | BBC
Monitoring Middle East. Provided by ProQuest
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