Atmosphere is appropriate to legislate oil law, says parliamentary committee

22/05/2012 10:11

ERBIL, May 22 (AKnews) - Iraq's parliamentary oil and energy committee said that now is the time to legislate the oil and gas law, adding that only the State of Law Coalition and Hussain al-Shahristani's Independent bloc have hindered agreement on the law during the past few months.

Committee spokesman Qassim Mohammed said: "The atmosphere is alright to enact the oil law… the problem is not in the Kurdistan Region's oil contracts but in the law-making process for drawing power and authority limits."

Mohammed linked the refusal to enact the law to the possibility of "detection of fraud and corruption in the oil wealth".

The Iraqi cabinet approved a draft oil and gas law in 2007 but faced Kurdish protest. Observers say the law represents the differences between Erbil and Baghdad on oil revenue sharing and control of some fields in northern Iraq and the Kurdistan region.

By Raman Brusk

HH/DM/AKnews
https://www.aknews.com/en/aknews/2/308345/