IRAQ - Focusing On The Non-Oil Sector - Part 7 - Iraqi Petroleum Legislation.
Iraq's draft petroleum law is being debated in the House of Representatives (parliament). But formation of a national oil company (NOC) has been agreed upon. On the sidelines of an OPEC seminar held in Vienna on Sept. 12-13, Iraqi Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani said "90%" of the law had been agreed and expected ratification by end-2006. Iraqi officials and international oil companies (IOCs) say such a law is a prerequisite for foreign investment in war-torn Iraq's petroleum sector.Shahristani said: "There will be an Iraqi national oil company that will be a holding company for the operating companies... There are a large number of companies [interested in Iraq's E&P] - some of them are regional". He touched on the flight of English-speaking Iraqi oil personnel over security concerns, saying: "Many of them have left the country, it is true. But we still have sufficient professionals there to be able to increase production every month".
The minister pegged output in Iraq's southern oilfields at 2.1m b/d, noting also an "ongoing daily battle" against saboteurs in maintaining supply from the Kirkuk fields in the north. "We're averaging now about three attacks every week, although normally we're able to [repair pipelines] in 24 hours", he said.
 Printer friendly
 Cite/link
 Email
 Feedback
| |
| Publication: | APS Diplomat Operations in Oil Diplomacy |
|---|---|
| Date: | Sep 25, 2006 |
| Words: | 205 |
| Previous Article: | IRAQ - Oil Output Restored. |
| Next Article: | IRAQ - Towards A Petro-Democracy. |
| Topics: | |