Iraq: Oil & Gas Industry Legislation Delayed

Lawmakers blame local polotics for the delay in oil and car legislation. The new law attempts to balance the interests of the warring Sunni, Shiite and Kurd factions which conflict over the relation between the central government the regions and how to distribute the oil and gas revenue.

“Kurds rejected approving the operation of a national oil company and linking its establishment with legislations of three laws in one package” Abdel Hadi al-Hasani, MP from the Shiite United Iraqi Coalition (UIC), told Aswat al-Iraq-Voices of Iraq(VOI).

Political wrangling has stifled progress on the draft law for dividing revenues from Iraq's considerable oil reserves, prompting the largely autonomous region of Kurdistan to begin signing its own contracts in September.

Hasani is the deputy chief for the parliament’s oil and gas committee and a member of Dawa party-Iraq organisation.

The UIC lawmaker pointed out “a national oil company must be establsihed before enacting the oil and gas law otherwise its implementation would ne incomplete”.

He added “he sent a letter to the Council of Ministers to speed up referring the oil company draft to the paliament”.

The law stipulates establishing a holding national company owned by the state to oversee the excavation, drilling and production processes on behalf of the central government.

For his side, Kurdish MP Ali Hussein Balou rejected the blames that Kurdistan region hampered legislation of a national oil company.

“There is an agreement between the central government and the regional Kurdish government to vote on four laws of a national oil company, regulating revenues of oil and gas and regulating the operation of the oil ministry in one package”, MP Balou, the chief for the parliament’s oil and gas committee, told Aswat al-Iraq-Voices of Iraq(VOI).

The lawmaker conceded “there is a sort of conflict between the two governnment over the oil company authorities”, adding “the regional Kurdish government wanted it to be with limited authorities, while the central government wanted it to be extensive authorities”.

Iraq's oil minister Hussein Shahristani has recently cancelled supply contracts agreed between the Kurdistan regional government and international oil companies, including Austria's OMV  and South Korea's SK Energy. International oil companies stressed the importance of an agreement being reached on the oil law as quickly as possible.

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