- Iraq oil law (2007)
The Iraq oil law, also referred to as the Iraq hydrocarbon law, is a proposed piece of legislation submitted to the
Iraqi Council of Representatives in May 2007. [cite video|year= 2007|date=2007-06-29|title= Pepe Escobar on Iraq - The U.S. "Surge" in Iraq and the oil law. | url= http://www.therealnews.com/web/index.php?&thisid=284&thisview=item |publisher =The Real News|location =Sao Paulo, Brazil|accessdate = 2007-06-29 | time= 2:25 - 3:14]The Iraqi government has yet to reach an agreement on the law. In June 2008, the
Iraqi Oil Ministry announced plans to go ahead with small one or two yearno-bid contracts toExxon Mobil , Shell, Total andBP — once partners in theIraq Petroleum Company — along with Chevron and smaller firms to service Iraq’s largest fields. [cite web
url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/19/world/middleeast/19iraq.html
title=Deals With Iraq Are Set to Bring Oil Giants Back
first=Andrew E.
last=Kramer
publisher=The New York Times
date=2008-06-19] These plans were canceled in September because negotiations had stalled for so long that the work could not be completed within the time frame, according to Iraqi oil ministerHussain al-Shahristani . Several United States senators had also criticized the deal, arguing it was hindering efforts to pass the hydrocarbon law. [cite web
url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/11/world/middleeast/11iraq.html
title=Iraq Cancels Six No-Bid Oil Contracts
first=Andrew E.
last=Kramer
publisher=The New York Times
date=2008-09-10]History
The
Iraqi oil industry had been completelynationalized by 1972.cite book
title=The Politics of the Global Oil Industry: An Introduction
first=Toyin
last=Falola
coauthors=Ann Genova
pages=61
year=2005
publisher=Praeger/Greenwood
isbn=0275984001] cite web
url=http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/0D09B919-D28A-4CC4-A79F-0EE500239225.htm
title=Row over Iraq oil law
first=Ahmed
last=Janabi
publisher=Al Jazeera
date=2007-05-05] The government in the 1990s, under the presidency ofSaddam Hussein , gaveproduction share agreement s (PSAs) toRussia n and Chinese companies which gave a profit percentage of less than 10 percent.The Bush administration hired the consulting firm
BearingPoint to help write the law in 2004.cite web
title=It's still about oil in Iraq
url=http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-juhasz8dec08,0,4717508.story?coll=la-opinion-rightrail
first=Antonia
last=Juhasz
publisher=Los Angeles Times
date=2006-12-08
accessdate=2007-05-07] [cite web
url=http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article2152438.ece
title=Shock and oil: Iraq's billions & the White House connection
first=Stephen
last=Foley
publisher=The Independent
date=2007-01-14
accessdate=2007-05-12] The bill was approved by theIraqi cabinet in February 2007. [cite web
url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6399257.stm
title=Breakthrough in Iraq oil standoff
publisher=BBC News
date=2007-02-27
accessdate=2007-05-06] The Bush administration considers the passage of the law a benchmark for the government of Prime MinisterNuri Kamal al-Maliki . [cite web
url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1617630,00.html
title=The Trouble With Benchmarks in Iraq
date=2007-05-04
first=Tony
last=Karon
publisher=Time magazine
accessdate=2007-05-06]Profit sharing
The new law would authorise
production share agreement s (PSAs) which guarantees a profit for foreignoil companies .The central government would distribute remaining oil revenues throughout the nation on a
per capita basis. The draft law would allowIraq's provinces freedom from the central government in giving exploration and production contracts. Iraq's constitution allows governorates to form a semi-independent regions, fully controlling their own natural resources.Reduced role of state run company
The
Iraq National Oil Company would have exclusive operational control of just 17 of Iraq’s 80 known oil fields. Normally countries do not have the type of exclusivity that would leave two-thirds of known and unknown fields open to foreign control. However, operational control of the fields does not mean control of the money made from them, and a percentage of the profits will be going into Iraqi tax revenue. [cite web
url=http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1177491868824
title=Oil Debate Fuels D.C. Lawyer's Role in Iraq: New law to be voted on by Iraqi parliament would open the country's oil industry to foreign investment
first=Daphne
last=Eviatar
publisher=The American Lawyer
date=2007-04-26
accessdate=2007-05-12] Iraq’s oil reserves are believed to be the second largest in the worldcite web
url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/13/opinion/13juhasz.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
title=Whose Oil Is It, Anyway?
first=Antonia
last=Juhasz
authorlink=Antonia Juhasz
date=2007-03-13
publisher=New York Times] afterSaudi Arabia . [cite book
title=The Reckoning: Iraq and the legacy of Saddam Hussein
pages=20
last=Mackey
first=Sandra
year=2002
publisher=W. W. Norton & Company
isbn=0393051412]Kurdish response
Iraqi Kurdistan "has already given PSAs to foreign oil companies, and is in favour of the proposed oil law." The region may gain control of oil-richKirkuk through a referendum later this year.Nechirvan Barzani , the prime minister of theKurdistan Regional Government , told Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki that Kurds would not accept the oil law unless a piece of companion legislation were amended to allow Kurds more freedom in developing fields in their region.cite web
url=http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2007/05/03/struggle_seen_on_oil_revenue/
title=Struggle seen on oil revenue
first=Joshua
last=Partlow
publisher=Washington Post
date=2007-05-03]Ashti Hawrami , oil minister for the Iraqi Kurdish region, said the Kurds would reject any amendments to the suggested law and that they would go ahead with deals they have already made regardless of the law's passage.Union response
Imad Abdul Hussain, a leader of the
Federation of Oil Unions in Iraq said workers want oil production to remain in government hands. In mid-May, oil workers threatened to go on strike to protest the legislation.cite web
url=http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/iraq/la-fg-oil13may13,0,7079450,print.story?coll=la-home-center
title=Iraqis resist U.S. pressure to enact oil law: Foreign investment and Shiite control are the primary concerns. A White House deadline for passage is in doubt
first=Tina
last=Susman
date=2007-05-13
publisher=Los Angeles Times
location=Baghdad
accessdate=2007-05-13]The Union went on strike June 4, 2007, partially over the Hydrocarbons Law.
ee also
*
Iraq withdrawal benchmarks
*Iraq Petroleum Company
*National Energy Policy Development Group
*Ray Lee Hunt References
External links
* [http://www.krg.org/uploads/documents/Draft%20Iraq%20Oil%20and%20Gas%20Law%20English__2007_03_10_h23m31s47.pdf Text of law in English provided by the Kurdish Regional Government (PDF)]
* [http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/timeline.jsp?timeline=us_occupation_of_iraq_tmln&us_occupation_of_iraq_tmln_specific_issues=us_occupation_of_iraq_tmln_the_oil_law Iraq oil law] Detailed timeline at the History Commons
* [http://www.iraqoillaw.com/ www.iraqoillaw.com]
* [http://priceofoil.org/ Price for oil]
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