[Texgreen] Fwd: Iraq ready to sign oil deals before new law

[Craig Miller]

--_uReach_com_1804289383119341719221996xxx_
Content-Type: Text/Plain; charset=iso-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

released by Reuters news service and circulated in lots of
publications.  

> Things look to be ugly for quite some time.  Deals being struck locally and
> nationally, fighting over what is legal, what is legitimate.  Who can back up
> what with force.  The multi-national corporate kingpins already trying to cash

> in ...  whoa!  ... I don't see the US leaving for a long, long time.
>
> Craig Miller
>
>
>
> Iraq ready to sign oil deals before new law
>
> Mon Sep 24, :34am EDT
>
> By Mariam Karouny
>
> BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq hopes to sign oilfield deals with
> multinationals before the end of the year even if a new oil law has
> not been passed by parliament, Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani
> said on Monday.
>
> Shahristani told Reuters in an interview the new contracts will be in
> line with rules and guidelines contained in the landmark draft oil
> law, which he said had been delayed by political infighting.
>
> "As a responsible ministry, we cannot keep waiting. There is no
> legislative vacuum. The current laws allow the oil ministry to
> negotiate with firms and to sign contracts," he said.
>
> "We are going to commit ourselves to the draft (oil law) in signing
> contracts by having free competition and total transparency and
> announce contracts which achieve the best interests for Iraq."
>
> Iraq's cabinet first agreed a draft law for dividing the world's third
> largest oil reserves in February, but disputes with the regional
> government in Kurdistan, as well as objections from Shi'ite and Sunni
> Arab politicians, have hobbled progress.
>
> Shahristani said it was not clear when the law will be passed because
> it is facing political, not technical, hurdles.
>
> "We notice that there are maneuvers to delay the law from different
> sides and for different motives," he said.
>
> Major oil companies such as Total , Royal Dutch Shell and Exxon Mobil
> are positioning themselves to gain access to Iraq's prized oilfields.
>
> While the industry generally prefers long-term production sharing
> contracts for development, the Iraqi oil minister signaled more
> restrictive service contracts may be used.
>
> "We have explored fields whose reserves and production rates we know
> very well so ... this only needs service contracts," Shahristani said.
> "For super giants like northern and southern Rumaila and Zubair, we
> may only need service contracts."
>
> Shahristani said he hoped the tender process for developing Iraq's
> oilfields could start before the end of the year.
>
> "We have (also) formed a new office, which is called the office of oil
> contracts and licenses, and it has prepared contract models and a plan
> for developing fields," he said.
>
> "Which fields will be listed in the first round and which in the
> second is under final review. We will begin the first round before the
> end of this year."
>
> Under the new draft oil law, contracts must be reviewed and approved
> by a Federal Council for Oil and Gas. The council is expected to be
> set up after parliament approves the law.
>
> But if the ministry does sign contracts before the law goes ahead,
> Shahristani said the deals will be presented to the cabinet for
> approval and foreign companies had no qualms about putting pen to
> paper.
>
> "I have spoken to big and medium oil firms and they have no
> reservations in signing contracts with the federal government," he
> said.
>
> KURDISH DEALS "ILLEGAL"
>
> Smaller oil companies have already struck deals with the region of
> Kurdistan in the north, but Shahristani said those signed after
> February 2007 were illegal.
>
> The Kurdistan regional government (KRG) signed a contract with a unit
> of U.S.-based Hunt Oil Co. and with Impulse Energy Corp this month and
> in April secured a service contract with the United Arab Emirate's
> Dana Gas.
>
> "All these contracts have no legal base and do not fit with the
> existing laws, nor with the draft which has been agreed," Shahristani
> said.
>
> "What worries us about these contracts is their secrecy."
>
> He said only Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) has the
> right to export crude.
>
> "Any other way of exporting crude is illegal and is considered smuggling."
>
> Shahristani said four other contracts signed with the KRG before
> Baghdad passed a draft oil law in February will be reviewed by the
> Federal Council for Oil and Gas.
>
> "We hold these firms to be legally responsible ... and we have warned
> them that they will bear the consequences."
>


________________________________________________
Get your own "800" number
Voicemail, fax, email, and a lot more
http://www.ureach.com/reg/tag
--_uReach_com_1804289383119341719221996xxx_--