Iraq’s Kurdistan regional government announced four more oil deals yesterday, ignoring criticism from Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki’s government and Washington of its unilateral sell-off of the country’s national resources.
Two production sharing contracts (PSCs) had already been signed, with Heritage Energy Middle East Limited, a subsidiary of the Canadian firm Heritage Oil and Gas, and Perenco S A, an affiliate of a French company of the same name.
“The signing of the other two PSCs with experienced international companies will follow shortly,” the statement said.
“The combined initial exploration investments on the upstream projects will be approximately $500m,” it said. “Estimated investment on the two new refinery projects will be around $300m.”
The Iraqi oil ministry did not immediately comment on the new deals, but Amira Al Baldawi, an MP from the Shi’ite coalition that leads the Baghdad government and a member of parliament’s economic, investment and reconstruction committee, said the contracts were “illegal”.
“They shall be revised and put in accordance to the Iraqi law and the new oil law to be issued,” Baldawi said.
Former oil minister Ibrahim Bahr Al Olum said he had advised the Kurdish authorities to postpone signing contracts until a new oil and gas law is passed by the national parliament.
Olum added, however, that such actions were to be expected because the legislative procedure is dragging.
“The procrastination of parliament to pass the law is pushing other parties to behave on their own,” he said.
Last month, the Kurdish regional government inked a deal with Texas-based Hunt Oil Company, the first major oil contract awarded by any Iraqi authority to a foreign company since UN sanctions were imposed on Iraq when it invaded Kuwait in 1990.
The Hunt contract was declared “illegal” by Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein Al Shahristani, sparking a war of words with the regional government, which told him to stop meddling in its affairs and said he should be sacked.
US State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey also criticised the Hunt deal last week.
“I’m not sure exactly how helpful it is for either any individual corporate entity or the Kurdistan regional government to be proceeding to make deals and contracts under an arrangement that in fact may be changed ... as a result of overarching national legislation,” Casey told reporters in Washington.
The bill opens up the long state-dominated oil and gas sector to foreign investment and provides assurances that receipts will be shared equally between Iraq’s 18 provinces, a measure Washington regards as key to efforts to reconcile the country’s divided communities.
The draft law was approved by Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki’s national unity cabinet in July but faces a tough passage in the 275-seat parliament, where the Kurdish bloc has 53 seats. The Peninsula
