Iraqi officials wrangle with Kurds over oil law
Source: Reuters
(New story, changes sourcing, changes dateline from LONDON) BAGHDAD, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Senior Iraqi officials will meet again on Tuesday in an effort to resolve a last-minute hitch in plans to present a landmark law on the oil industry to cabinet this week, senior government sources said. Since the Oil Ministry announced last week that the Oil Committee, comprising cabinet ministers and regional leaders, had finalised a deal, officials from the Kurdish regional government have demurred, saying they were still dissatisfied. One senior member of the committee told Reuters on Tuesday that after a meeting late on Monday he was confident that the dispute would be resolved. The draft law is characterised by the Iraqi and U.S. governments as vital to secure billions of dollars of foreign investment to revive Iraq's oil industry and to dampen ethnic and sectarian conflicts over the distribution of revenues. The draft, as released by the Oil Ministry last week, gives the national government a right of review over existing contracts signed under former President Saddam Hussein or by the Kurdish regional government. Kurdish officials say the wording does not satisfy their demand that existing contracts be reviewed only by the regional government itself to ensure that they conform with the new draft regulations. Among such contracts, one is with Norway's DNO <DNO.L>. Some Kurdish officials have told Reuters that the Oil Committee, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih who is himself a leading Kurdish politician, pushed through the draft last week without consulting them.
| AlertNet news is provided by |  |
