15 November 2011
Baghdad - Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Hussain al-Shahristani gets hammered from all sites for his position on oil giant Exxon Mobil's oil contract with Kurdistan Region to explore six fields in the region for oil exploration.
After criticism from Kurdish politicians yesterday, also Aref Tayfur, deputy speaker of the Council of Representatives, and Uday Awwad, member of the Council's Oil and Energy Committee, bashed Shahristani.
"The country is witnessing hard times with the close withdrawal of U.S. military and the Iraqi people shouldn't endure more crises and problems caused by incompetent officials in the Iraqi government, such as Shahristani," Tayfur said.
After Kurdish Minister of Natural Resources Ashti Hawrami said on Sunday that the Kurdistan Region signed a contract with Exxon Mobil, Shahristani gave Exxon Mobil the choice either to work in the West Qurna field or the fields of Kurdistan, thus threatening to cancel existing contracts with the U.S. supermajor.
It is unclear, if the Iraqi government is really willing to do that. Samuel Ciszuk, an oil analyst at IHS Global Insight quoted in the London Independent, said,"Exxon is developing one of the biggest oil projects in the south and is the lead on a huge water injection system that will be used by oil companies all across the region. To kick Exxon out would be a very powerful statement because it would effectively derail most of its production boosting program for a good year or two."
Although Shahristani is not Iraq's oil minister -- that is Abd al-Karim Luaybi -- he seems to have control over the country's oil policy. The Council's Energy Committee has been repeatedly criticizing that.
Today, Committee member Awwad said that the Oil Ministry's position is a violation on the agreements between the Kurdistan region and the federal government. He personally blamed Shahristani for that. "Shahristani is putting pressure on the Oil Ministry," Awwad said.
Tayfur voiced his concern that the conflict could ultimately hurt the country and its citizens. He urged Shahristani to ensure the development of suitable solutions of the electricity and oil shortage, now that the winter is about to begin.
Meanwhile, Shahristani and officials from the Oil Ministry confirmed their position. Abdul Mahdi al-Amidi, head of the Contracts and Licensing Department at the Oil Ministry, said during an interview with Radio Free Iraq that the contracts between Exxon Mobile and the Kurdistan Region violate the laws and regulations in Iraq.
Shahristani's office issued a statement, in which he repeated his threat to "re-consider" current contracts with the company in other parts of the country.
There have been tensions between the Kurdistan Regional Government and the federal authorities about the oil policy for a long time. They recently increased after the KRG rejected a draft Oil and Gas Law approved by the Iraqi government in August. The region believes the draft law gives too much power to the Federal Government to manage the oil wealth and would be at the expense of the region.
In the past Baghdad has prevented companies operating in the Kurdistan Region from participating in licensing rounds to develop Iraqi oil fields. Other supergiant oil companies working in southern Iraq, like BP and Royal Dutch Shell, have held off from moving into Kurdistan Region for fear of antagonizing the Iraqi government.
Baghdad - Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Hussain al-Shahristani gets hammered from all sites for his position on oil giant Exxon Mobil's oil contract with Kurdistan Region to explore six fields in the region for oil exploration.
After criticism from Kurdish politicians yesterday, also Aref Tayfur, deputy speaker of the Council of Representatives, and Uday Awwad, member of the Council's Oil and Energy Committee, bashed Shahristani.
"The country is witnessing hard times with the close withdrawal of U.S. military and the Iraqi people shouldn't endure more crises and problems caused by incompetent officials in the Iraqi government, such as Shahristani," Tayfur said.
After Kurdish Minister of Natural Resources Ashti Hawrami said on Sunday that the Kurdistan Region signed a contract with Exxon Mobil, Shahristani gave Exxon Mobil the choice either to work in the West Qurna field or the fields of Kurdistan, thus threatening to cancel existing contracts with the U.S. supermajor.
It is unclear, if the Iraqi government is really willing to do that. Samuel Ciszuk, an oil analyst at IHS Global Insight quoted in the London Independent, said,"Exxon is developing one of the biggest oil projects in the south and is the lead on a huge water injection system that will be used by oil companies all across the region. To kick Exxon out would be a very powerful statement because it would effectively derail most of its production boosting program for a good year or two."
Although Shahristani is not Iraq's oil minister -- that is Abd al-Karim Luaybi -- he seems to have control over the country's oil policy. The Council's Energy Committee has been repeatedly criticizing that.
Today, Committee member Awwad said that the Oil Ministry's position is a violation on the agreements between the Kurdistan region and the federal government. He personally blamed Shahristani for that. "Shahristani is putting pressure on the Oil Ministry," Awwad said.
Tayfur voiced his concern that the conflict could ultimately hurt the country and its citizens. He urged Shahristani to ensure the development of suitable solutions of the electricity and oil shortage, now that the winter is about to begin.
Meanwhile, Shahristani and officials from the Oil Ministry confirmed their position. Abdul Mahdi al-Amidi, head of the Contracts and Licensing Department at the Oil Ministry, said during an interview with Radio Free Iraq that the contracts between Exxon Mobile and the Kurdistan Region violate the laws and regulations in Iraq.
Shahristani's office issued a statement, in which he repeated his threat to "re-consider" current contracts with the company in other parts of the country.
There have been tensions between the Kurdistan Regional Government and the federal authorities about the oil policy for a long time. They recently increased after the KRG rejected a draft Oil and Gas Law approved by the Iraqi government in August. The region believes the draft law gives too much power to the Federal Government to manage the oil wealth and would be at the expense of the region.
In the past Baghdad has prevented companies operating in the Kurdistan Region from participating in licensing rounds to develop Iraqi oil fields. Other supergiant oil companies working in southern Iraq, like BP and Royal Dutch Shell, have held off from moving into Kurdistan Region for fear of antagonizing the Iraqi government.
© AK News 2011
