Monday, September 25, 2006
Baghdad questions Kurdistan's oil deals
Economy
Iraq's oil minister on Sunday disputed the validity of deals signed between the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) and international oil companies, reportedly saying that the central government was not bound by the investment contracts. The comments represent a continuation of an ongoing dispute between the autonomous Kurdish region in the north of the country and the central government over the control of oil resources.
Hussein al-Shahristani, the oil minister, was quoted by the state-run al-Sabaah newspaper as saying: "The ministry isn't committed to oil investment contracts signed in the past...by officials of the government of the Kurdistan region which were announced as contracts for investment and the development of oil fields."
The Kurds have signed production-sharing agreements in the past year allowing several international companies, including Norwegian and Turkish groups, to begin drilling in the north, and the KRG's oil minister Ashti Hawrami said last week that more contracts will be signed in October. Baghdad, however, has consistently insisted that only the federal government has the right to make such deals. Both sides say they are discussing the issue as part of negotiations over a federal hydrocarbons law, to be passed either by the end of this year or at the beginning of the next.
Hussein al-Shahristani, the oil minister, was quoted by the state-run al-Sabaah newspaper as saying: "The ministry isn't committed to oil investment contracts signed in the past...by officials of the government of the Kurdistan region which were announced as contracts for investment and the development of oil fields."
The Kurds have signed production-sharing agreements in the past year allowing several international companies, including Norwegian and Turkish groups, to begin drilling in the north, and the KRG's oil minister Ashti Hawrami said last week that more contracts will be signed in October. Baghdad, however, has consistently insisted that only the federal government has the right to make such deals. Both sides say they are discussing the issue as part of negotiations over a federal hydrocarbons law, to be passed either by the end of this year or at the beginning of the next.
