SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Iraq’s Ministry of Oil renewed its call on Friday to revoke to oil contracts that the Kurdistan Region government has made with international oil companies.
The Iraqi Minister of oil Ihsan Abdul Jabar has revealed, that Bagdad will take the necessary measure to execute Iraq’s Federal court’s decision aimed at revoking the Kurdistan Region oil contracts with international oil firms.
“All of the Region’s oil contracts are unlawful”, and “Previously Iraq’s Federal court has deemed oil and gas law as unconstitutional,” he said.
“Selling the Kurdistan Region oil will be considered in a frame of oil smuggling” he added.
He also pointed out that, “every necessary measure will be taken against the 17 IOCs which operate in Erbil”. Those companies that possess contracts with the Kurdistan Region will be notified in writing and if they do not comply with the decision, tight measures will be taken against them, according to the Minister’s words.
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.
However, Iraq has recently made fresh attempts to control oil revenue in the Kurdistan Region, 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. So-far the Region’s government has repeatedly refused officially to abide by the court’s ruling and thus sparked conflict between the officials in Erbil as well as Baghdad.
