Oil and Gas Law Key to Resolving Issues Between Baghdad, Erbil - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East

A Kurdish peshmerga soldier watches over as fuel trucks head through Haj Umran border crossing to Iran, in northeastern Iraq, July 20, 2010. Despite a pledge by Iraqi Kurdistan to crack down on the flow of fuel being smuggled to Iran, the only real impediment truck drivers say they face are long lines that force them to wait for days to cross. (photo by REUTERS/Azad Lashkari)

Iraqi Kurdistan Region Natural Resources Minister Ashti Hawrami said that the shares of oil companies operating in the region have exceeded $3.5 billion. He stressed the importance of the oil and gas law's enactment, and estimated that oil reserves in the three Kurdish governorates are at more than 45 billion barrels.

In an interview with Al-Hayat, Hawrami said that the negotiations with Baghdad will be in accordance with the law, which determines the Kurdistan region’s financial share of federal revenues. “The provincial government informed Baghdad at the beginning of this year that the investing companies requested more than $3.5 billion [in shares], and they are constitutionally entitled to this,” he said.  

He denied Baghdad’s accusations that the region is exporting crude oil without coordinating with Baghdad, adding, “This is taking place under an agreement with Baghdad to export our production, on the condition that 50% of proceeds is deducted to pay companies’ dues, while the other 50% is kept by the state treasury. However, all the proceeds were seized.”

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