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Kurdish oil contracts remains unsolved

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Kurdish foreign oil contracts issue remains unresolved
Monday, January 3rd 2011 3:34 PM
 
Baghdad, Jan. 3 (AKnews) –An Iraqi Ministry of Oil spokesman said on Monday that the federal issue of oil contracts between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and foreign oil companies has not yet been resolved; noting that this issue will be submitted to the Iraqi parliament for discussion.
Baghdad had previously maintained that the oil contracts with foreign companies signed by the KRG from 2009 were illegal as they were made without consulting the relevant federal government authorities.
The contentious dispute between the regional and federal powers has been going on for the past four years without any concessions being made by either side.
In their role as Kingmaker after an eight month political deadlock in Iraq, the Kurdistan Blocs Coalition (KBC) demanded that the oil contract issue be resolved by the future government in order to assure their allegiance to it.
Iraqi Oil Ministry spokesman Asse Jihad, acknowledged to AKnews on Monday that the issue poses a threat to relations between the federal government and the KRG. 
Jihad said if the ongoing discussions between the two parties don’t arrive at a mutually acceptable solution, then the issue will be dealt with by the Iraqi parliament.
Advisor to the KRG’s Ministry of Natural Resources Ali Blu, accused the Iraqi government yesterday of wanting to strip the KRG of all authority over Kurdistan’s oil resources. 
The KRG began exporting oil in 2009 from two of the region’s oil fields, Tac Tac and Tawki which produce a combined 100,000 barrels of oil per day.
After four months the exportation was stopped by the federal government which demanded that a percentage of the proceeds should be paid to Baghdad.
More recently the newly appointed Iraqi Oil Minister Abdul Karim Lu’aibi said that the Iraqi government was ready to approve the contracts signed between the KRG and foreign investors. 
According to Jihad, the issue between the KRG and Baghdad will be resolved by the drafting of oil and gas laws in the Iraqi parliament that regulate the relationship between federal and regional authorities regarding the exploitation of their natural resources.
Reported by Saman Deza'i
Ah/Ka/AKnews