Iraq’s parliament will re-start negotiations next month on the country’s controversial oil law, according to Khaled al-Attiya, the deputy speaker.

Attiya said the parliament would take its time to discuss the draft oil law, but he expected it to pass before the end of the year. Attiya, a senior member in the ruling Shi’ite Alliance, has now told the Reuters news agency there has been an agreement between the powerful Shi’ite Alliance and the Kurdish coalition to go with the draft approved by the cabinet in February.

“That helped in putting the law on schedule (for debate). Possibly in early October,” he said. He said the law should be debated fully, not decided by some back-room deal. “This law is not like any other law. This is a strategic law,” he said.

“So it is only right that we give this law all the time it deserves in discussions in the parliament and not to have a political deal about it among the political blocs behind closed doors.”

One Comment

  • Why can’t the Iraqi government develop a revenue sharing law in which the Federal government either distributes the oil revenue in a fashion similiar to that in use in the state of Alaska, or use this revenue, (a major source of income) as part of their national budget?

    Exploration and development of the oil fields should be carried out on an individual contractual basis. It is interesting to note that the Hunt Oil group is working in northern “Kurdistan”, doing just this. There is nothing like having friends in the right places. Where are all the other international oil development companies?

Comments are closed.