ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdistan Region’s judicial council on Saturday reiterated the claim that the top Iraqi court is “unconstitutional,” therefore rejecting the court’s ruling against the Region’s oil and gas industry.
The statement from the judicial council “explained that the [Iraqi] federal court is unconstitutional and has no authority to repeal the Kurdistan Regional Government's oil and gas law.”
The statement further added that the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) oil and gas law is in accordance with the Iraqi constitution, stressing that the law “remains in force”.
The statement from the council comes after earlier in May, the council released a statement saying that management of the oil sector is not exclusive to the federal government, deeming the Region’s oil and gas law as “constitutional” contrary to the Iraqi Federal Supreme Court’s decision three months prior.
The Kurdistan Region passed its oil and gas law in 2007, enabling it to administer and develop its own oil and gas resources.
The Iraqi top court’s decision in February found the law to be “unconstitutional,” therefore striking down the legal basis for the independence of the Kurdistan Region’s oil and gas sector. Kurdish leaders have slammed the decision repeatedly.
Iraq’s constitution tasks the federal government with running the country’s “present” oil fields but that does not prevent it from managing fields that may be found in the future, the Iraq National Oil Company said in their financial examination of the Region’s contracts, published last month.
The report added that “some regions,” most likely referring to the Kurdistan Region, have used this as an excuse to participate in the earnings of previous fields, as well as taking sole control of fields found after the implementation of the constitution.
