Iraqi Dinar Discussion Board

[Panhead]

More information on the oil law (HCL). Looks positive for a solution!
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New panel to iron out differences on Iraq oil law: Kurd leader
1 hour ago

ARBIL, Iraq (AFP) — Baghdad and the autonomous Kurdish administration in northern Iraq have formed a new panel to resolve differences between them over a national oil law, a top Kurdish leader said on Saturday.

Nechirvan Barzani, the prime minister of northern Iraq's Kurdish government, said the committee would find a "joint solution" to the proposed energy law, which has yet to be approved by the national parliament.

The committee would include Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, Barzani and other representatives of Baghdad and the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG).

"This committee will hold a meeting next week in Baghdad, and if we feel there is a need for a technical committee ... that too would be formed," Barzani told reporters in Arbil, the capital of the Kurdish government.

Barzani was in Baghdad earlier this week to discuss the hydrocarbons law with Maliki.

In the past year, the Kurdish government has angered Baghdad by finalising its own energy law and signing contracts with global oil majors despite the absence of national oil legislation.

The law has been delayed in parliament over bitter differences among the assembly's Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish lawmakers over the sharing of the revenues generated from oil sales.

Its establishment is seen as a key benchmark by a Washington aiming for national reconciliation among Iraq's communities.

Barzani said he was convinced during his visit to Baghdad that there were political and constitutional differences over the law but insisted that his government would adhere to the contracts with foreign companies.

"Probably there are opinions in Baghdad that say we have no constitutional right," he said referring to signing of the contracts by KRG.

"I want to confirm that what we do in Kurdistan is a constitutional right."

"Nobody in Baghdad has the right to cancel the oil contracts that Kurdistan government signed with the foreign companies," he said, adding that the issue of contracts was not discussed with Maliki.

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hw4mYj8fJ9fZRQvJLGXMz8RXQs4w