Will the Iraqi Parliament Approve the Long-Awaited Oil and Gas Law?

TNT:

Tishwash:  Will the Iraqi parliament approve the long-awaited oil and gas law?

The Iraqi parliament is preparing to discuss the oil and gas law as part of a group of laws that will be discussed after the legislative recess ends and the parliament reconvenes.

The law, which has been waiting for more than a decade, is expected to be discussed, but it is not certain whether or not the law will be passed in that session.

Observers believe, despite the importance of the oil and gas law at that stage that Iraq is going through, that political differences and blocs within parliament may delay it, unless consensus is reached before the voting process, as the law is of great importance to Baghdad and Erbil, given that oil represents the main revenue component. in the Iraqi budget.

First, Abdul Malik al-Husseini, an Iraqi political analyst, says that the draft oil and gas law, which is of great economic importance, is one of the most important laws that would raise the production capacity of oil and gas derivatives , and contribute significantly to promoting foreign investments in this field.

Urgent need

He added in his speech to “ Sputnik ”: “In a country like Iraq, which ranks fifth in the world as the second largest oil reserve in the world, the legislation of such a law is an urgent necessity, as it regulates the method of extracting oil and minerals throughout Iraq, including the Kurdistan region, as well as Organizing oil revenues.

Al-Husseini pointed out that the differences that halted the enactment of this law for 18 years lie in the interpretation of the constitutional articles related to oil marketing and revenue management, as well as the oil contracts that each government adopts with foreign companies.

Stabilizer

The political analyst explained that the results of the negotiation process between the central government and the Kurdistan Regional Government , which takes place through the specialized negotiating committees, indicate the imminent end of its work, and then the oil and gas law was presented to parliament for reading and then voting.

Al-Husseini added that after the start of the second legislative term of the second legislative year last Sunday, the parliamentary committees began their legislative and oversight work, and the first session of the second legislative term will be held next Saturday.

Al-Husseini pointed out that President Al-Halbousi is conducting consultations with the various parties regarding the oil and gas law, and stressing the need to speed up its approval, which would enhance the stability of Iraq's economic policy, and end all differences between the central government and the region.

Missing compatibility

For his part, Kifah Mahmoud, a political researcher and expert on Kurdish and Iraqi affairs, says, "According to the government program and what was agreed upon between the Kurdistan Democratic Party, the coordination framework, and the Sovereignty Alliance in managing the state, the oil and gas law is legislated in a way that achieves and guarantees the rights and gains of the people of the Kurdistan region, and according to the constitution." This is in theory."

And he added in his speech to “Sputnik”, but on the practical ground, and after the framework abandoned its commitments in the oil agreement and in the budget law, and work to reduce the constitutional powers of the region and attempt to prejudice its entity, by using the majority of the component in Parliament away from the consensus on which the Sudanese government was formed. and its political programme.

Demographic change

Mahmoud pointed out that it has become difficult to achieve an oil and gas law that satisfies everyone. Indeed, what is happening in terms of demographic change in Sinjar, Khanaqin, Kirkuk, Mandali and the Nineveh Plain does not encourage the application of Article 140, but rather the exact opposite.

The Iraqi Prime Minister, Muhammad Shia' al-Sudani , said in the middle of last month that alternative energy will compete with oil and gas in the future.

Al-Sumariya News reported that Al-Sudani's remarks came in a speech he made during his attendance at a celebration marking the 63rd anniversary of the convening of the founding conference of OPEC, which was held in the capital, Baghdad.

Al-Sudani stressed that "oil still represents a basic source of energy in the world, and it has its importance in politics, economy, development, and the environment, and its importance to countries that depend on it, for production or consumption, and when OPEC was founded, the oil wealth was managed by monopolistic companies that lost countries' sovereignty and influence in Oil Market.

OPEC members

The Iraqi Prime Minister indicated that "OPEC members manage the plans, production and industry of their oil with full sovereignty and draw their oil policies," noting that "the entry of natural and associated gas into the energy investment market has added new responsibilities to member states and has become a vital resource for many industries, which requires Member States should bear in mind the multiplying challenges they face. 

Shiaa Al-Sudani stated that Iraq has relied for decades on oil as a basic resource for the economy and money, at a time when natural gas was neglected, which deprived his country of many development opportunities, stressing that Iraq signed important contracts to invest in both natural and associated gas.

It is noteworthy that the 5 countries that participated in the founding of "OPEC" are Iraq, Kuwait, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, as the first meeting of the organization was held in Baghdad in 1960. ink