Al-Ghad

The Iraqi government has submitted yet another Draft Oil Law (linked below) after the much trumpeted draft of the July 3rd, 2007 that was approved by the cabinet and supposedly passed to the parliament for endorsement as is. The new draft has introduced several amendments in its second chapter that droped the name of the Kurdistan Region (from Article 1, paragraph 5, and Article 2, paragraph 1), maybe to please MP’s that had boycotted parliament because of opposition to Kurdish demands in the Oil Law. And, unlike the 3rd July Draft, the new draft submitted to parliament contains the controversial four annexes detailing the oil fields in the whole country.

There is a more serious amendment, however. The 3rd July Draft stated on, page 9:

“The Iraqi National Oil Company is nominated to act, on behalf of the Republic of Iraq, in regards the carrying out of Article (13) para. (2) sub-para. (a) and (b), of this law.”

This refers to producing and discovered-but-nonproducing oil fields.

But, in the latest draft, this same article includes only oil fields listed in sub.-para. (b), excluding the producing oil field from the National Oil Company.

This draft proposes, or implies to take away the producing oil fields in Iraq out of the hands of the Iraqi National Oil Company. This potentially allows the producing fields to be sold off to foreign companies depriving Iraq of the main source of its livelihood.

This is only one example from the new draft being circulating among Iraqi MP’s. It is not clear whether this was a jumbled proposal, or to trick Iraqi MPs into passing the latest Draft Oil Law. What is becoming obvious, however, is that this continuous stream of amended drafts is more like the twisting story of a con-man trying to swindle an unsuspecting person out of his income than the sober proceedings of a constitutional government.

27th July Draft of the Iraqi Oil Law

Iraqi Draft Oil Law 3rd July Part 1 of 2

Iraqi Draft Oil Law 3rd July Part 2 of 2