SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Iraq’s oil minister Ihsan Abdul Jabbar said on Saturday that the federal government would proceed with implementing a federal court ruling that gives the ministry oversight of oil output in the Kurdistan Region after talks didn’t lead to a result.
Abdul Jabbar said during a round-table meeting with officials in the Iraqi National Oil Co that Baghdad and Erbil didn’t reach an agreement over oil output and exports in the Kurdistan Region even after 75 days of talks.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has been developing oil and gas resources independently of the federal government, and in 2007 enacted its own law that established the directives by which the region would administer them.
Kurdistan’s massive untapped oil reserves, lucrative production-sharing contracts and safe environment have prompted international oil companies over recent years to commit to investing billions of dollars there.
But in February, Iraq’s federal court deemed the oil and gas law regulating the oil industry in Kurdistan unconstitutional and demanded that the KRG hand over their crude supplies.
Iraq’s federal court’s ruling gives the oil ministry in Baghdad the authority to manage oil and gas fields in Kurdistan.
“We are moving to implement the provisions of this ruling. It is not easy,” Abdul Jabbar said, according to Bloomberg.
“We are still revolving around the absence of confidence” between relevant parties.
The oil minister further said the federal government didn’t intend to control oil activity and was rather seeking regulate it.
But the initiatives and flexibility offered by Iraqi oil ministry haven’t worked to boost confidence, he added.
Abdul Jabbar also said the Iraqi National Oil Company would implement the court’s ruling internally while the oil ministry would work with the finance ministry and international bodies to do what is required.
“Such a ruling will lead to protecting energy security in the federal state,” he said.
“It is illogical to have two polices for oil and gas output in one country. This situation cannot continue.”
In April, a high-level KRG delegation visited Baghdad for talks with senior Iraqi officials following the court’s ruling on the Region’s oil and gas law.
Member of the KRG delegation Khalid Shwani said in the press conference that the Region “wants to resolve the issue of oil with Baghdad on the basis of constitution”.
