Oil and Gas Law.. Continuous Kurdish visits to Baghdad and political differences hinder legislation

Oil and Gas Law.. Continuous Kurdish visits to Baghdad and political differences hinder legislation

2022-12-18 | 05:16

Alsumaria News
Although there are two drafts of the oil and gas law in the House of Representatives, the law was not legislated due to political differences, at a time when Parliament seems more serious during the current session to resolve the file, since there is a government commitment to pass the law within a period not exceeding six months.
The former deputy, Rizan Sheikh Dalir, confirmed that the 2023 budget will be a formality if it is approved during the next year, while indicating that the lack of trust between Baghdad and Erbil is what raised the pace of differences.

Sheikh Diler said in an interview with Alsumaria News, “The rapprochement of the Kurdistan Democratic Party with the coordination framework came on the condition that the implementation of the Federal Court’s decision on oil and gas in the Kurdistan region be waived behind the scenes of secret agreements.”

And she continued, “Trust between the government of Baghdad and Erbil is almost non-existent, which made the delivery of the region’s oil imports almost impossible to the federal government, for fear of not paying their full share of the general budget.”

The member of the House of Representatives added, “The Sudanese government will not be able to approve the general budget law during the coming period in light of the legislative recess of the House of Representatives and the differences between the region and Baghdad, and if it is approved, it will be a formal budget as a result of political differences.”

In addition, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan put forward an ideal solution to get out of the oil and gas crisis between Baghdad and Erbil, while stressing that the Kurdish people were greatly affected as a result of the dispute between the region and the center.

Union member Mahmoud Khoshnaw said in an interview with Alsumaria News, “The best way to resolve the dispute between Baghdad and Erbil is to go to the implementation of Articles 111 and 112 of the constitution with regard to the oil and gas law and the legislation of this law in the Federal House of Representatives, to put the oil tanker on the right track.” “.

He added, “The Kurdish people have been greatly affected as a result of the oil dispute between Baghdad and Erbil, but the corrective path taken by the Patriotic Union with the Kurdistan Democratic Party may restore matters to normal.”

He pointed out that “resolving disputes between the center and the region once and for all requires enacting the oil and gas law and translating it in the next budget,” noting that “the National Union has observations on the oil agreement only, not gas, such as service contracts, partnership contracts, and the quality and quality of companies.”

He continued, ” The Kurdish people are anxious and fearful of managing oil in the region, but foreign oil companies have a study and the ability to produce oil.”

Article 111 of the Iraqi constitution defines that: Oil and gas are the property of all Iraqi people in all regions and governorates.

As defined in Article 112 First: The federal government shall manage the oil and gas extracted from the existing fields with the governments of the producing regions and governorates, provided that its revenues are distributed in an equitable manner commensurate with the population distribution throughout the country, while specifying a share for a specific period for the affected regions, which were deprived of them in a manner unfairly imposed by the previous regime, and which were subsequently damaged, in a way that ensures balanced development for the different regions of the country, and this shall be regulated by law.

Second: The federal government and the governments of the producing regions and governorates shall jointly draw up the necessary strategic policies for the development of oil and gas wealth, in a way that achieves the highest benefit for the Iraqi people, adopting the latest techniques of market principles and investment encouragement.

The Oil and Gas Committee says that some of the proposals within the draft law, which the Kurds support, provide for the establishment of an oil company in the Kurdistan region that is directly linked to the Federal Ministry of Oil “in all its extractive and production operations.”

According to the committee, the proposals include establishing another company concerned with gas investment, and a third company concerned with investing in government refineries.

Committee member Ali Shaddad confirms that “the law will be a radical solution to the dispute over oil wealth between Baghdad and Erbil, and even regulate all energy files throughout Iraq,” noting that “the Oil and Gas Committee works with the Legal Committee, in addition to the Supreme Committee formed between the central and regional governments and the company.” SOMO, to complete the appropriate formula for finding solutions to all contentious points in the oil file.

Shaddad says, “The law will finally be passed after a delay that lasted for years due to political differences,” but at the same time, he points out that the political parties have not yet reached a final draft of the law.

He added, “All committees and parties participating in the law’s discussions will review all previously proposed oil and gas bills, and will come up with a copy of a single draft law that will be submitted to the Presidency of the House of Representatives, in order to present it for a vote,” stressing that “the Parliamentary Oil and Gas Committee is striving with all its determination to pass it.” A draft law that preserves the rights of all parties, and will be a starting point for strengthening the unity of the rights of all citizens in all governorates with this great wealth, which is the first source of the Iraqi economy.

The absence of an oil and gas law is one of the most prominent problems facing the oil and gas sector after 2003. Three drafts of the bill were sent to parliament since 2007, but differences between political parties prevented it from being passed, which prompted Kurdistan to issue its own law for oil and gas, which in turn issued The Federal Court decided to cancel it.

It is noteworthy that the House of Representatives entered its legislative recess since last week in the absence of political agreements between Baghdad and Erbil on the oil and gas law.

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