Baghdad - Iraq's Oil and Energy Parliamentary Committee criticized the Oil Ministry on Sunday for preventing foreign oil companies from working in Kurdistan Region. They said it is a violation of the agreement between Erbil and Baghdad.
The Iraqi government informed U.S. company Exxon Mobil Corp. that its efforts to extract oil in Kurdistan Region are illegal, as reported by AKnews on Saturday. The company, which is operating the vast West Qurna field near Basra, said its Kurdistan venture had the approval of Hussain al-Shahristani, Deputy Prime Minister for Energy.
Committee member Furat al-Sahrei said preventing Exxon Mobil from working in Kurdistan Region violates power agreements between Baghdad and the capital of Kurdistan Region.
The tension has increased recently between the governments of Baghdad and Erbil after the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) rejected a draft Oil and Gas Law which had been approved by the Iraqi government. The KRG believes the draft law would gift the Federal Government the power to manage the northern oil wealth at the expense of the region.
According to the terms of the Erbil conventions, an agreement must be reached about a draf Oil and Gas Law. The region accuses the National Coalition (NC) of passing the bill without taking the opinion of the Kurds.
The roots of the crisis between Baghdad and Erbil goes back to oil contracts that the region signed with international oil companies without the consent of the Federal Oil Ministry, which considers the contracts "invalid" and unconstitutional.
© AK News 2011
