The autonomous Kurdish regional government in northern Iraq Monday
defied Baghdad by vowing to sign more contracts with international oil
firms despite the national government's opposition.
"The (regional) government will continue with the contracts
and they will be implemented," its prime minister, Nechirvan Barzani,
said.
"No one can cancel any contract of the KRG signed with
foreign companies," a defiant Barzani told reporters in the regional
capital Arbil.
Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani has declared all
oil contracts between the Kurdish administration and foreign companies
null and void, saying they have been signed illegally in the absence of
a national oil law.
Barzani insisted the contracts are legal and fall within the provisions of the region's constitution.
The Kurdish government has signed 15 exploration and export
contracts with 20 international companies since it passed its own oil
law in August, infuriating the Baghdad government.
The regional government says the contracts will benefit all
Iraqis as 85% of the returns from the deals will be for Iraq and the
rest will go to the contractor.
Iraq's oil and gas bill is stalled in the national parliament amid bitter differences between rival factions.
When approved, the new law will open up Iraq's long state-dominated oil and gas sector to foreign investment.
It will also stipulate that receipts be shared equally between
Iraq's 18 provinces, a key concern for the Sunni Arab minority that
Washington says has fueled the anti-American insurgency.
Iraq's oil reserves - the world's third largest - lie mainly
in the Kurdish north and Shiite south and the Sunnis fear the two
communities could monopolize future income.