Sulaimaniya, Feb.6 (AKnews)- A member of the oil and gas committee in the Iraqi parliament said Saturday the compensation of the foreign oil exploring and drilling companies functioning in the Kurdistan Region is stipulated in the Iraqi budget 2011, while he urged the Kurdish administration to present the Iraqi government with details of its oil contracts to be entitled the right.
Byazid Hasan told AKnews it is mentioned in the Iraqi 2011 general budget that the Iraqi government will remunerate the companies.
After almost one year and half, the Kurdistan Region will resume its oil exports. The suspension was because Baghdad refused to reimburse the companies for it recognized the Kurdistan oil contracts “illegal.” The phase seems to have elapsed, thanks to constant negotiations between the top officials from both the Kurdish and Baghdad governments.
However, Hasan said, there is an issue as to how the companies will be reimbursed. The Kurdistan Region is yet to disclose the details of its oil contracts to the Iraqi side. Even in the previous cabinet the oil minister, Hossein Shaherstani, demanded to forward the deals to Baghdad for inspection, Hasan said.
He urged the Kurdish government to provide Baghdad with the contracts’ details, “or it may be deprived from the reimbursement for the companies.”
In an interview with the AFP Saturday the Iraqi Prime Minister Norui al-Maliki voiced his cabinet’s readiness to pay back the companies.
The Iraqi budget is still debated among Iraqi lawmakers.
Lh/AKnews
