Iraqi parliament discusses oil law soon

[Sara Johnson]

Iraqi parliament discusses oil law soon

Thursday, March 31st 2011 9:18 PM

Baghdad, March 31 (AKnews) - The Iraqi parliament began on Thursday its 48

session headed by Osama al-Nujaifi and his two deputies Aref Tayfur and Qusay

al-Suhail in the presence of 240 MPs, and the agenda includes the first reading

of the Iraqi National Oil Company draft law submitted by the Oil and Energy

commission.

Bahaa Jamal al-Dien, the member of the Oil and Energy parliamentary committee

told AKnews that the law will provide an appropriate environment for energy

investment in Iraq, including oil, gas and will also encourage the local

workers to compete for work according to world contexts in the extraction of

oil from fields under the management of the national oil company. The Committee

has several laws that will be submitted in stages for the parliament especially

oil and gas law postponed by the parliament during the previous session.

"The oil and gas law will be returned to the Ministers Council to be

reformulated for being written before the licensing rounds. The Oil Minister

Abdul Karim al-Luaibi said while he was hosted by the parliamentary committee

on Wednesday that many developments have occurred in the past three years."

The Iraqi National Oil Company was formed according to Act No. 11 of 1964 and

Act no. 97 issued on the same year to regulate the investment of the Iraqi

National Oil Company of the areas allocated to them.

The center of the Iraqi National Oil Company was integrated with the center of

the Oil Ministry according to the decision of the disbanded Revolutionary

Command Council number 267 on April 26 - 1987, and this decision was considered

as a cancelation for the company.

A number of experts concerned in oil studies believe that Iraq lacks clear

political policy which was a reason in delaying the development of its oil

wealth.

The Ministry of Oil announced in September last year that the Iraq’s proven

reserves of oil reached 33.463 billion barrels in the northern and southern oil

fields, particularly in the fields of Qurna and Zubair.

Iraq signed oil contracts with international energy companies at the beginning

of this year after two rounds of licenses to develop ten oil fields were

tendered.

The Oil Ministry announced at the end of last year a five year plan to raise

the country’s oil production to 12 million bpd from the 2.7 million bpd

currently produced

While the Chairman of the Legal Committee MP Khalid Shuani from Kurdistan Blocs

Coalition (KBC) told AKnews that "today's meeting will include the first

reading of the proposed law of internal rules and the second reading of the

draft law of the salaries and allowances of the President of the Republic and

his deputies, the Prime Minister and his deputies, ministers, deputy ministers

and those at their grades, advisers, general managers and those at their

grades, salaries and bonuses paid monthly to the Parliament Speaker and his

deputies and MPs submitted by the Legal Committee."

"Many amendments were done to the articles of the internal system of the

parliament to strengthen its regulatory and legislative role and its

relationship with the government and how to address it. The internal system

will be legally binding for the parliament as well the government in the

paragraphs related to it."

The agenda of the parliament includes the second reading of the proposed law

of inspectors general submitted by the Parliamentary Integrity Commission.

The chairman of the Integrity Parliamentary Commission Bahaa al-Araji said on

March 14 that his committee had agreed during a meeting with the inspectors

general of a number of ministries to develop a law to regulate their work.

Reported by Fulaih al-Jawari

RN\GS AKnews

http://www.aknews.com/en/aknews/2/228739

[kjwayne]

Thank You Sara Johnson! +1

[HYDRANT]

ITS A BOUT TIME ON THIS HCL LAW------------------------BUT--------------------------WE CAN ONLY HOPE THIS IS NOT A LONG DRAGGED OUT AGGENDA------SO IM GLAD BUT I WONT GET EXCITED JUST YET

Edited April 1, 2011 by HYDRANT

[Richard Wood]

Thanks Sara, excellent...

[lechesuerte]

Nice thanks Sara

[Richardk]

Thank you for the post