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Will IOC's suffer from problems between Kurds and the Iraqi government?

Iraqi Kurdistan’s reappointed Oil Minister Ashti Hawrami renewed his insistence that Kurdish authorities be involved in any deals Iraq signs with foreign oil majors over the Kirkuk oilfields, Reuters reports.

It said a new government took office in the semi-autonomous Kurdish enclave in northern Iraq on November 4 following an election in July. Relations are tense between Iraqi Kurds and the Arab-led government in Baghdad due to disputes over land and resources.

“We, in the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG), should be part of talks with oil companies to develop fields in any disputed area,” Hawrami told Reuters when asked if he objected to any deal with Royal Dutch Shell.

The national Oil Ministry is currently pursuing a deal to develop the oilfields around Kirkuk with Shell.

Tensions over disputed, oil-rich territories that dot the Kurdish frontier have almost led to clashes as Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki exerts more control over the whole country after years of bloodshed triggered by the US invasion.

Hawrami’s reappointment under new KRG Prime Minister Barham Salih surprised some Kurdish lawmakers but only four of the 111 legislators voted against it. Another four abstained while a new opposition party walked out of the entire session.

Do you agree that the Kurds should have a say over the companies picked to operate in their part of the country? Or is this really a matter for the central government to decide? Will disagreement between the two sides mean problems for the oil and gas industry?

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091104 :Will IOC's suffer from problems between Kurds and the Iraqi government?

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1 Comment:

dario said...
Do you agree that the Kurds should have a say over the companies picked to operate in their part of the country? Or is this really a matter for the central government to decide?


Iraqi Constitution clearly answered these questions as follows

Legal Dispute

Article 117 of the Iraqi constitution - 2006, gave all powers which were not exclusive to the federal government to regions, and gave priority to regional law in case of dispute. Article 107 omitted petroleum from the list which came under the exclusive control of the federal government. But the federal government's draft of the petroleum law issued in February 2007 goes against some parts of the constitution which related to the petroleum sector, and the KRG has since been opposed to that.

Sun Nov 08, 04:00:39 AM CST

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Eric Watkins
OGJ Oil Diplomacy Blog
by Eric Watkins

Eric Watkins joined Oil & Gas Journal in 2001 as Middle East Correspondent and now serves as its Oil Diplomacy Editor, drawing out the industry’s political implications. His column Watching the World appears weekly in Oil & Gas Journal, while his news articles appear daily on Oil & Gas Journal Online. Eric’s work is based on his experience as a correspondent in the Middle East, Europe, and Central Asia. He lived in Saudi Arabia, 1981-88; Yemen, 1989-94; the UK, 1988-89 and 1994-2000; and Cyprus, 2000-04. Additional assignments have taken him to Africa, the Arabian Gulf, the Caucasus, and Central Asia.

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