Thursday, April 19, 2007
Oil minister discusses draft oil law
Oil
(VOI) - Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahrestani said on Wednesday the enactment of an oil and gas law is a national achievement for Iraq’s people, underlining that it would have a positive affect on Iraq’s unity. "The law tops Iraqis' interests and its clauses are based on realizing national interests," the state-run al-Iraqia satellite channel quoted the minister as saying during a forum held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on Wednesday.
"The oil and gas law consists of 43 clauses and four articles," the minister said in the forum, which was attended by deputy parliamentary speaker, Khaled al-Attiya, and a number of Iraqi lawmakers. "The law stipulates that the cabinet will be responsible for approving federal oil policy and supervising drilling, extracting, producing and marketing oil," al-Shahrestani also said. "To fulfill these responsibilities, the federal council for oil and gas will be established," the minister stated.
"The council consists of the oil, finance and planning ministers, the federal government, the governor of the Central Bank, a representative of each province where production capacity exceeds 100,000 barrels per day, and a number of Iraqi experts," he added. "The council will be assigned to make federal oil policies and production plans, grant licenses for drilling, and to sign contracts," al-Sharestani noted.
"An office of Iraqi independent experts will also help the council to fulfill its work," he highlighted."Licenses for drilling will be granted for four years," the minister said, noting that in the case where oil and gas are found in the field, the council will grant a license for two years for estimating production, and sign a contract for 20 years to produce oil and develop oil fields," the oil minister concluded.
Labels: draft oil law, Hussain al-Shahrastani, Iraq Oil, licenses
