BAGHDAD (Xinhua) – Iraqi President Barham Salih has called for a serious dialogue about a recent decision by the Iraqi Federal Supreme Court to invalidate a regional oil and gas law in the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan.
“There is a need to launch a serious and urgent dialogue between the federal government and the Kurdistan regional government to find practical mechanisms and solutions that guarantee (implementation) of the federal court’s decision,” Salih said in a statement issued by the presidency media office.
Over a decade, the reluctance of political parties to pass the (federal) oil and gas law, which regulates the country’s oil and gas resources, has played a negative role and led to reach the critical moment facing today, the president stressed.
Salih also urged the Iraqi parliament to discuss and approve the oil and gas bill for the country, the statement said.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court ruled that the regional oil and gas law is unconstitutional and obliged the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to hand over all the extracted oil production to the Federal Ministry of Oil.
Moreover, the court’s decision allows the federal ministry to seek to invalidate oil contracts between the regional government and other countries or companies for oil exploration, extraction, export, and sale.
The regional Ministry of Natural Resources in Kurdistan has been tapping oil and gas resources independently of the federal government. The KRG passed its own oil and gas law in 2007 to enable direct contracts with foreign companies without federal authorization.
The Iraqi government and the KRG have been in a long-standing dispute over Baghdad’s share of Kurdish petrol, with the Iraqi government demanding full control of the region’s crude for years.
Under a deal between the two sides, the Kurdish region delivers 250,000 of its more than 400,000 barrels of daily oil output to Baghdad, in return for its share of the federal budget.