The leader of one of the most powerful Iraqi political parties said “good progress” has been made on the oil law, though he was short on details. …
The oil law, however, is stuck in Parliament’s energy committee and a resolution between the central government and Kurdistan appears far away. When asked to explain “good progress,” Abdel Aziz al-Hakim, the head of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, said the oil and other laws have either “already reached the Iraqi Parliament” or “are still being prepared.”
“The Parliament should give its opinion about them during the next weeks or months,” he said.
Read my entire article for United Press International HERE, in which Hakim also plays down the beef with the Iraqi Kurdistan region over its 20-some oil deals.
Hakim’s statements are crossed, however, by statements by ISCI or other officials in Iraq’s national government show a more dire situation.
Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani said the dispute between the KRG and Baghdad are “irreconcilable for the time being,” Alex Lawler reports for Reuters.
Abbas al-Bayati, a parliamentarian representing ISCI, is calling for the oil deals the KRG has signed to be suspended, Mohammed Ameer reports for AFP.
The Kurdistan Alliance is a core component of the ruling coalition running the government in Iraq, however, and the extent the Kurdish oil deals are addressed, and compromise made over it and the oil law, will determine the future of the government.
But apparently the KRG deals are striking a chord with the Shiite and Sunni parties in Iraq which are not united on much. The feeling is the Kurds are moving unilaterally and because they don’t want strong central control over the oil sector, the Kurds are just looking out for themselves.
Parliamentarians want answers and are apparently calling on the KRG oil minister to answer questions in Parliament.
The Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) of northern Iraq will send a delegation to Baghdad next week, to discuss issues concerning oil, security and the Kirkuk referendum, Yaniv Berman reports for The Media Line.
For more reading on this: An interview with KRG Natural Resources Minister Ashti Hawrami, which I wrote for UPI. He was in town recently talking to U.S. political and business leaders and had talked of signing even more deals.
From the “what the heck are you talking about” file
Deputy U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert Kimmitt apparently pulled a number on reporters during a visit to Iraq.
He said the oil law, not security, is the number one impediment to oil companies coming into the country.
“A lot of times people think they’re not investing because the security situation is difficult,” Kimmitt said. “Well, the security situation is improving, and as the oil companies will tell you, they invest in many places in the world where security is a tough factor.”
If one looks at the more than 20 oil deals oil companies have signed with Iraqi Kurdistan already, where there is relatively little violence, it appears it doesn’t matter if there’s a legal structure.
The national oil ministry is on the verge of signing some deals on their own, without an oil law, as well, which points out Kimmitt’s absurdity and disregard for the Iraqi people in exchange for the desires of the international oil community.
Iraq has the world’s third largest proven oil reserves, and when the remaining 70 percent of the country is explored, plus the 30 percent explored better, its reserves will likely rival Saudi Arabia.
The security situation is not improving, as in a trend. There are some markers of less violence which can be viewed only in isolation because there are some very real issues of sustainability, i.e. persistent low quality of life for Iraqi citizens and continued and growing inter- and intra-ethno and religious faction disagreements.
Oil companies may sign deals if there’s an oil law, but under the security situation that remains, under ultimately a war zone and civil war, the deals would contain a risk premium giving terms way too generous to international oil companies than a country with such large, quality and easily extractable crude reserves should sign.
More on Iraq’s Oil
Kurd oil deals = smuggling, Shahristani says, Iran’s PressTV reports.
Senior Kurdish official lashes out at oil minister, Mohammed Hameed reports for Azzaman.
Arabs and Kurds reach accord in Iraq’s Kirkuk, AFP reports.
Kirkuk referendum debate continues, Alsumaria TV reports.
Negroponte sees Kirkuk referendum delayed to 2008, in Today’s Zaman.
Iraqis patrol southern borders for smugglers, Iraq Slogger presents from Basra, a rare look at the Border Police and Coast Guard forces.
Powering Iraq
Iraq’s Electricity Minister’s home attacked in Baghdad, guards injured, DPA reports.
New power station to be established in Thi Qar governorate, Middle East North Africa Financial News reports.
Iraq’s Workers
An interview with Hashmeya Muhsin Hussein, president of the Electrical Utility Workers Union, the first woman to head up a national union in Iraq, by Natacha David for InfoShop News.
Society, Security and Politics
Women under extremists’ guillotine in Basra, by Voices of Iraq via Iraq Updates.
Basra women fear militants behind wave of killings, Alaa Shahine, Dean Yates and Andrew Dobbie report for Reuters.
Say ‘no’ to Female Genital Mutilation; Say ‘yes’ to a law prohibiting FGM, by Kameel Ahmady in Kurdish Media via Iraq Updates.
Kurdish region rethinking independence: Turks’ recent threat to invade tells many they need Iraq, by Bay Fang for the Chicago Tribune.
Iraq Struggles to Control the PKK, by Roxana Saberi in Der Spiegel.
Sunni militias’ success seen as threat to Shi’ites, by Leila Fadel for McClatchy Newspapers.
Cholera: A Microscopic Insurgent, by Mark D. Drapeau is a fellow at the Center for Technology and National Security Policy at the National Defense University in The New York Times.
A Calmer Iraq: Fragile, and Possibly Fleeting, by Alissa J. Rubin for The New York Times.
The Iraq Press Roundup, by UPI’s Hiba Dawood.
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