Monday, May 14, 2007
Iraq’s Kurds Warn: Either Oil Or Separation
Oil, Kurdistan, Politics
(Al Mashriq Newspaper) - 13 MAY - Kurdistan Iraq’s government warned the central government in Baghdad yesterday that any reduction in the Kurd’s share of oil will lead to their separation from the nation. Qubad Talabani, son of the Iraqi President and the Kurdish government representative to the US said, “The oil is a red line to us and oil will determine whether we remain part of Iraq or not.”
The Iraqi and Kurdish regional governments reached an agreement on oil in February but they did not establish a final agreement regarding other primary laws. The date to implement these agreements is at the end of this month. However, at the meeting in the Ministry of Oil in Baghdad last month, where many Iraqi politicians and oil experts attended, they determined that there were items added to the original laws. There were also problems with the creation of the national Iraqi oil company.
Qubad Talabani added, “This means we have returned to square one and this matter is unacceptable to us; we are working to modernize Iraq, build a new Iraq, establish new rules, new policies, and we must rehabilitate the oil infrastructure. If some want to return to the old policies of President Saddam’s regime, where the government completely controlled the oil; sector without any supervision by the people or Parliament, I will say, ‘I am sorry, the Kurdish do not need this kind of Iraq nor will we invest in it."
Qubad Talabani added, “This means we have returned to square one and this matter is unacceptable to us; we are working to modernize Iraq, build a new Iraq, establish new rules, new policies, and we must rehabilitate the oil infrastructure. If some want to return to the old policies of President Saddam’s regime, where the government completely controlled the oil; sector without any supervision by the people or Parliament, I will say, ‘I am sorry, the Kurdish do not need this kind of Iraq nor will we invest in it."
Talabani clarified that the Iraqi national oil company should be completely open to foreign investment and should cooperate with the international community. He further added, “There must be a new payment procedure instead of waiting for the Finance Minister’s discretion. I do not want Kurdistan’s oil to be stolen or the Kurd’s money to be used against them again. Iraqi oil experts believe that the new oil law will give foreign companies the biggest share of oil. The experts also do not trust the current government to invest the oil profits for the benefit of coming Iraqi generations."
Labels: draft oil law, Iraqi National Oil Company, Kurdistan, Ministry of Oil, Qubad Talabani
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Iraqi oil officials, experts worry over loss of Iraqi profit from oil
Oil, Politics
(AFP) - Some Iraqi oil experts and politicians are aghast over their government's approval of a bill that many fear will deliver the country's oil wealth to international firms on a platter. In February, capping months of bitter wrangling, the Baghdad government approved a draft law that aims to distribute revenue from crude oil exports equitably across Iraq's 18 provinces and open the sector to foreign investors.
The multi-party government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki sees the legislation as a key plank in moves to reunite a country torn apart by sectarian violence, and hopes that parliament will ratify the bill in May. But former Iraqi oil industry officials, experts and lawmakers gathered in Jordan to debate the bill have warned that the timing is wrong, and expressed strong concerns that Iraq would lose control of its own "black gold."
"There are many question marks hanging over this draft law," said Dhia al-Bakaa, former president of the Iraqi State Oil Marketing Organisation (SOMO). "Why the timing? Why the hurry when we still lack political, economic and security stability," Bakaa asked a recent conference organised by the non-governmental Iraqi Centre for Strategic Studies. "The Iraqi National Oil Company should have been restructured before the government endorsed the draft law, to allow INOC to develop the giant oil fields so that they would not face pressure and extortion in the future."
Issam Chalabi, an oil minister under executed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, said the bill did not take "into account our greater national interests." It was adopted "to satisfy US President George W. Bush," who called on the newly installed Maliki government last June to restore electricity in Iraq, adopt a new investment law and restructure the oil industry, he said. Chalabi also charged that Iraqi oil exports over the past four years have gone "unchecked and unaccounted for."
Since the US-led invasion in 2003, Iraqi production has tumbled from 3.5 million barrels per day to around two million. Chalabi said Iraq has been exporting around 1.5 million bpd. Faleh al-Khayat, a former head of planning at the oil ministry, warned that "major foreign oil firms are greedy and will covet Iraq's oil wealth" if the bill is adopted. "If Iraq's giant oilfields are developed they would yield 80 percent of Iraq's proven reserves estimated at 115 billion barrels," he said.
MP Saleh Mutlak of Iraq's National Dialogue Front echoed him: "We have no need for foreign companies. We are experienced enough to reap the fruit of our wealth." Mutlak also said he feared the bill may not live up to government hopes that it will unify Iraq. "We don't want a new law that will further divide us. We need a law that will unite the Iraqi people," he said.
Most oil production is in the Shiite south, with the best prospects for new finds centred on the Kurdish north. The northern oil hub of Kirkuk is disputed between Kurdish and Arab leaders. Motlak said parliament in Baghdad should not ratify the bill "until we reach the appropriate climate for investments in Iraq."
The multi-party government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki sees the legislation as a key plank in moves to reunite a country torn apart by sectarian violence, and hopes that parliament will ratify the bill in May. But former Iraqi oil industry officials, experts and lawmakers gathered in Jordan to debate the bill have warned that the timing is wrong, and expressed strong concerns that Iraq would lose control of its own "black gold."
"There are many question marks hanging over this draft law," said Dhia al-Bakaa, former president of the Iraqi State Oil Marketing Organisation (SOMO). "Why the timing? Why the hurry when we still lack political, economic and security stability," Bakaa asked a recent conference organised by the non-governmental Iraqi Centre for Strategic Studies. "The Iraqi National Oil Company should have been restructured before the government endorsed the draft law, to allow INOC to develop the giant oil fields so that they would not face pressure and extortion in the future."
Issam Chalabi, an oil minister under executed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, said the bill did not take "into account our greater national interests." It was adopted "to satisfy US President George W. Bush," who called on the newly installed Maliki government last June to restore electricity in Iraq, adopt a new investment law and restructure the oil industry, he said. Chalabi also charged that Iraqi oil exports over the past four years have gone "unchecked and unaccounted for."
Since the US-led invasion in 2003, Iraqi production has tumbled from 3.5 million barrels per day to around two million. Chalabi said Iraq has been exporting around 1.5 million bpd. Faleh al-Khayat, a former head of planning at the oil ministry, warned that "major foreign oil firms are greedy and will covet Iraq's oil wealth" if the bill is adopted. "If Iraq's giant oilfields are developed they would yield 80 percent of Iraq's proven reserves estimated at 115 billion barrels," he said.
MP Saleh Mutlak of Iraq's National Dialogue Front echoed him: "We have no need for foreign companies. We are experienced enough to reap the fruit of our wealth." Mutlak also said he feared the bill may not live up to government hopes that it will unify Iraq. "We don't want a new law that will further divide us. We need a law that will unite the Iraqi people," he said.
Most oil production is in the Shiite south, with the best prospects for new finds centred on the Kurdish north. The northern oil hub of Kirkuk is disputed between Kurdish and Arab leaders. Motlak said parliament in Baghdad should not ratify the bill "until we reach the appropriate climate for investments in Iraq."
Labels: Dhia al-Bakaa, draft oil law, Faleh al-Khayat, INOC, Iraq, Iraqi National Oil Company, Issam Chalabi, Saleh Mutlak, SOMO, State Oil Marketing Organisation
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Oil minister says negotiations with foreign companies have not yet begun
Oil
(Iraq Directory) Iraqi Oil Minister, Hussein Shahrastani, said on Thursday that Iraq has not yet begun negotiations with the major international oil companies on the development of its energy sector; although, these companies are still waiting impatiently. Shahrastani said, "We are not negotiating with any major oil companies at the moment and we are awaiting the parliamentary approval to the new oil law which is likely to take place before the end of May".
The minister added that almost all international oil companies had interest in working in Iraq, "We have memorandums of understanding with almost each of these companies; they are preparing themselves, but there are no negotiations on the development of any particular field". The new law provides for the establishment of an Iraqi National Oil Company, which will be responsible for the main oil fields, the newly discovered and the productive. Major international oil companies are focusing on these fields such as West Qurna, Majnoon and Bin-Omar.
During the time of the late President Saddam Hussein, a consortium of Russian companies led by “LUKoil” signed an agreement to develop the West Qurna field, but Iraq canceled that agreement in 2002. Iraq is also reviewing an agreement to develop Al-Ahdab field signed with the Chinese National Petroleum Corporation and the Chinese company NORINCO for weapons manufacture. The French company Total, also, signed by initials some deals to develop the fields of Majnoon and Bin-Omar.
Labels: Bin-Omar, Hussain al-Shahrastani, Iraqi National Oil Company, LUKoil, Majnoon, NORINCO, Total, West Qurna
