Thursday, August 09, 2007
AMS urges foreign companies not to make oil deals with KRG
Politics, Oil
(Voices of Iraq) - The Sunni Association of Muslim Scholars (AMS) urged foreign companies on Tuesday night not to conclude deals with the government of Iraq's Kurdistan region in light of the approved oil and gas law.
"The parliament of the Kurdistan region approved, under pressure from its politicians, a law for oil and gas, allowing the establishment of a national oil company, which gives it the right to conclude oil contracts with other companies," the AMS said in a statement received by the independent news agency Voices of Iraq on Tuesday night. AMS, which stands for a strong central government and opposes loose federalism, is linked to the 1920 Revolution Brigades guerrilla group.
"Kurdish officials have no right to handle Iraqis' oil wealth which belongs to all Iraqi citizens, not just a certain group or faction," the statement added. Iraq's Kurdistan’s parliament passed the draft law on oil and gas involving the northern Iraqi region on Monday, after more than a month of debate.
The draft law is still under debate by the Iraqi national parliament. According to current draft of the law under consideration by the parliament, there should be no contradiction between the oil law, if passed by the national parliament, and that adopted by the regions, otherwise the law adopted by the Iraqi national parliament will take precedence.
The AMS issued last month what it described as an "Islamic fatwa," which considers the Iraqi government's ratification of the draft oil law as an abhorrent measure according to Islamic law, and that voting for it would "harm the interests of Muslim Iraqis." A statement by the association considered the law to be "part of transactions concluded with the occupier by politicians who came with the occupier, which will lead to the plunder of the country's gross national wealth."
The law for the management of oil resources is considered one of the most controversial issues in Iraq, and there are differences among political blocs on the law regarding the equitable distribution of revenue. Most of Iraq's known oil reserves are located in the Shiite-dominated south and the Kurdish north. Iraq sits on the world's third-largest oil reserves and officials have sought, since last year, to finalize the draft law.
The law gives Iraqi and foreign investors the right to set up refineries and oil facilities and to invest in them for 50 years, after which they will belong to the Iraqi government. The Kurdistan regional government has signed several agreements with foreign companies regarding investments in the oil sector.
"The parliament of the Kurdistan region approved, under pressure from its politicians, a law for oil and gas, allowing the establishment of a national oil company, which gives it the right to conclude oil contracts with other companies," the AMS said in a statement received by the independent news agency Voices of Iraq on Tuesday night. AMS, which stands for a strong central government and opposes loose federalism, is linked to the 1920 Revolution Brigades guerrilla group.
"Kurdish officials have no right to handle Iraqis' oil wealth which belongs to all Iraqi citizens, not just a certain group or faction," the statement added. Iraq's Kurdistan’s parliament passed the draft law on oil and gas involving the northern Iraqi region on Monday, after more than a month of debate.
The draft law is still under debate by the Iraqi national parliament. According to current draft of the law under consideration by the parliament, there should be no contradiction between the oil law, if passed by the national parliament, and that adopted by the regions, otherwise the law adopted by the Iraqi national parliament will take precedence.
The AMS issued last month what it described as an "Islamic fatwa," which considers the Iraqi government's ratification of the draft oil law as an abhorrent measure according to Islamic law, and that voting for it would "harm the interests of Muslim Iraqis." A statement by the association considered the law to be "part of transactions concluded with the occupier by politicians who came with the occupier, which will lead to the plunder of the country's gross national wealth."
The law for the management of oil resources is considered one of the most controversial issues in Iraq, and there are differences among political blocs on the law regarding the equitable distribution of revenue. Most of Iraq's known oil reserves are located in the Shiite-dominated south and the Kurdish north. Iraq sits on the world's third-largest oil reserves and officials have sought, since last year, to finalize the draft law.
The law gives Iraqi and foreign investors the right to set up refineries and oil facilities and to invest in them for 50 years, after which they will belong to the Iraqi government. The Kurdistan regional government has signed several agreements with foreign companies regarding investments in the oil sector.
Labels: AMS, Association of Muslim Scholars, foreign companies, KRG, Kurdistan, oil law
Friday, August 03, 2007
KRG approves part of own oil law
Kurdistan
(UPI) - The Kurdistan Regional government in Iraq has approved part of its own oil law while a federal law is far from approval. The KRG's Parliament met in special session Tuesday and approved four of the 62 articles of the law governing regional oil and natural gas resources, the Voices of Iraq news agency reports. Lawmaker Areez Abdullah said Parliament will continue taking up the law during upcoming special sessions.
The vast majority of Iraq's 115 billion barrels of oil is located in the Shiite-controlled south and Kurdish north. Iraq produces about 2 million barrels per day now, below the 2.6 million bpd pre-war level. Iraq's Parliament has been urged by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and pressured by President Bush to approve a federal oil law. That law is far from approval because of the varying standpoints of Iraq's political, ethnic and religious factions as well as the oil unions over how much control the central government should have over key oil fields vs. the regional/local governments as well as the role of foreign companies.
The Kurds have wanted action from Baghdad but are now moving forward on their own oil law. The KRG area is different from the violent and chaotic rest of Iraq. It has experienced relatively little violence and modest economic development. The two main KRG parties disagreed on the regional oil law last week. The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the party of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, walked out of a session after its request to stall the regional law was denied.
Labels: Areez Abdullah, KRG, oil law
