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Kurds blame Baghdad for oil delays
30.6.2009 |
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June
30, 2009
ERBIL-Hewlęr, Kurdistan region 'Iraq', —
The construction of four oil refineries in the
Kurdish region of Iraq was delayed because of the
failures of the Iraqi oil minister, Kurdish
lawmakers say.
Refineries in the cities of Kirkuk and Erbil, the
Kurdish capital, would have produced nearly 200,000
barrels per day while another plant should have been
slated at the Taq Taq field, the Kurdish Globe
reports.
Those projects were delayed due to the negligence of
Iraqi Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani,
complained Bayazid Hassan, a Kurdish lawmaker in the
Iraqi Parliament.
Hassan said the Iraqi federal government should have
moved on financing for the projects, but failed to
do so.
Baghdad is set to announce the winners of several
service contracts for oil and gas fields June 30.
The online Iraq Oil Report notes a sandstorm closed
Baghdad International Airport, postponing the
original Monday auction start.
Iraqi Kurdistan began oil exports from its Taq Taq
and Tawke oil fields beginning June 1, depositing
the revenue in federal coffers.
Meanwhile, Shahristani has faced mounting
allegations that the Iraqi oil and gas sector has
suffered during his tenure. Representatives with the
state-run South Oil Co.,www.ekurd.net
for their part, have
said national companies should reap the benefits,
while the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) said
the contracts should be scrapped.
"These contracts are being rushed, perhaps to meet
short-term political objectives and to obscure past
mistakes and failures," said Ashti Hawrami, the
natural resource minister for the KRG.
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