Political consensus to pass the oil and gas law during the current session

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[size=52]Political consensus to pass the oil and gas law during the current session[/size]

[size=45]Baghdad / Hussein Hatem[/size]
[size=45]New developments have occurred in the oil and gas law, which is still awaiting legislation inside the parliament dome since 2005. Yesterday, Wednesday, joint technical committees were formed to consider outstanding issues between Baghdad and Erbil, including the draft oil and gas law.[/size]
[size=45]The Oil and Gas Law stipulates that the responsibility for managing the oil fields in the country must be entrusted to a national oil company, and it is supervised by a federal council specialized in this issue. However, since 2003, Baghdad and Erbil have disagreed on the issue of managing the region's oil fields.[/size]
[size=45]And the Ministry of Planning stated in a statement, yesterday, Wednesday, that “Diwani Order Committee 22151 for the year 2022 headed by the Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Planning, Muhammad Ali Tamim, and charged with resolving outstanding issues with the Kurdistan Region, held its first meeting in Baghdad, in the presence of a delegation from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.” Headed by the Minister of Planning in the region, Dara Rashid Mahmoud,” noting that “during the meeting, which prevailed in a positive atmosphere, outstanding issues were raised between the two sides, especially the oil and gas law, the budget, and other issues.”[/size]
[size=45]He added, "It was agreed that the outstanding issues be dealt with, in accordance with what was stipulated in the Iraqi constitution, and the ministerial platform of the government of Prime Minister Muhammad Shia' al-Sudani, which was voted on by the House of Representatives," noting that "the meeting resulted in the formation of joint technical committees to consider the overall The issues that the committee will discuss, provided that meetings and joint meetings continue during the coming days, to reach radical solutions to all these issues. Dhurgham al-Maliki, a member of the Parliamentary Oil and Gas Committee, says, “The draft oil and gas law is one of the most prominent projects that the committee is working on preparing and approving,” noting that “many of the problems facing the oil and gas sector in Iraq will be resolved with its approval.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Maliki added that "there are drafts of the oil and gas law that include all the details, but it has not been agreed upon finally," explaining that "the committee will review these projects to complete a good draft law, in order to shorten the time."[/size]
[size=45]He pointed out, "The Parliamentary Oil and Gas Committee will seek to pass a draft law that preserves the rights of all parties, and is a factor in strengthening the unity of Iraqis."[/size]
[size=45]Al-Maliki pointed out that “the draft law was not abolished, but was postponed and may be presented in the next legislative term,” adding, “The paragraphs of the law cannot be divided, but it is possible to amend and add paragraphs to it or delete paragraphs, but it will be fully approved.” In turn, Jamal Kujar, a representative of the Kurdistan Islamic Union, says, "The draft oil and gas law has not been legislated for decades, due to its connection to political matters that impede its legislation."[/size]
[size=45]He added, "Iraq is an oil country and its main economy depends on oil, and it has no law." Cougar indicated, "The prime minister talks a lot about the enactment of this law, and we hope that it will be legislated despite its difficulty." And last April, the Federal Court ruled that the Kurdistan Oil Law, which has been in effect since 2007, is “unconstitutional.”[/size]
[size=45]After the court's decision, the Ministry of Oil appointed the international law firm Cleary Gottlieb Stein and Hamilton to communicate with some oil and gas companies operating in the Kurdistan region "to start discussions to bring their operations in line with applicable Iraqi law," according to Reuters.[/size]
[size=45]The efforts apparently led to the withdrawal of the "Schlumberger" oil field services company from the Kurdistan region, in compliance with the Federal Court's decision.[/size]
[size=45]Earlier last month, Prime Minister Muhammad Shia al-Sudani said in a press conference, “There is a serious desire that we have felt from the Kurdistan region, and this matter is also available to the government and political parties to confront these files professionally and with solutions that guarantee justice for all parties, especially Baghdad and Erbil agree on the ceiling of the constitution to regulate this relationship.[/size]
[size=45]With regard to the draft oil and gas law, he explained that, “One of the most important solutions in this file (the relationship between Baghdad and Erbil), and our deliberations are continuing with the Ministry of Oil to prepare a draft law that will be subject to preliminary discussion with the regional government before it is presented to the Council of Ministers, and then sent to the House of Representatives.[/size]
[size=45]He pointed out that “the budget file and its draft law entail obligations, and just as the Kurdistan region calls for rights, it has obligations, and these must be applied in accordance with the law and the constitution so that Baghdad can fulfill its financial obligations, whether they are in the budget law or in the rest of the entitlements.”[/size]
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