Iraq
Delegations of the KRG and oil-producing Iraqi provinces meeting with the Iraqi oil ministry in Baghdad on August 6, 2023. Photo: Iraqi Oil Ministry
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Delegations from the Iraqi oil ministry and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on Saturday agreed to form committees and create a roadmap towards a final draft for the oil and gas bill.
In a joint statement following the meeting, the Iraqi oil ministry said that committees were to be set up “as soon as possible” to discuss the bill they described as “the main pillar of investing in the oil and gas wealth within the ideal international practices.”
The statement added that a roadmap would be given to the established committees to work towards a final draft of the oil and gas bill, which would then be presented to the Iraqi parliament.
The meeting comes days after Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani met with Iraqi officials and key political bloc leaders from both Baghdad and Erbil to review the latest drafts of the bill, where he ordered the formation of ministerial committees that would oversee technical dialogues between federal oil ministry and the KRG’s natural resources ministry, to reach a consensus on presenting the bill.
During the meeting, Sudani emphasized the significance of the bill, labeling it as "fundamental and crucial." He stated that the country urgently requires a hydrocarbon law to fully utilize its natural resources and address various unresolved problems.
Calls for drafting a joint hydrocarbon law between Erbil and Baghdad have resurfaced since the formation of the new Iraqi government under Sudani in October, after a ruling from Iraq’s top court in February 2022 deeming the Kurdistan Region’s oil and gas law “unconstitutional” escalated tensions between the KRG and the federal government.
Oil exports from the Kurdistan Region through Turkey's Ceyhan port have not resumed since late March, following a Paris-based arbitration court saying that Ankara had violated its 1973 pipeline agreement with Baghdad.
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