Thread: Iraqi politicians agree deal on Revenue sharing oil

Iraqi politicians agree deal on sharing oil, says Kurd minister

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Iraq's Kurdish leaders said last night they had struck an important deal with the central government in Baghdad over a law to divide up Iraq's oil revenues, which is seen by the Bush administration as one of the benchmarks in attempts to foster national reconciliation.


Ashti Hawrami, the minister for natural resources in the Kurdistan regional government, told the Guardian the text had been finalised late last night after 48 hours of "tough bargaining" with Baghdad. The deal represented "a genuine revenue sharing agreement" that was transparent and would benefit all the people of Iraq and help pull the country together, he said.
Iraq's oil revenue accounted for 93% of the federal budget last year. Iraq sells about 1.6m barrels a day.

Mr Hawrami said the law provided for the setting up of two "regulated and monitored" accounts into which external and internal revenues would be deposited. The external account would include items such as oil export earnings and foreign donor money, while the internal fund would consist largely of customs and taxes. The federal government in Baghdad would take what it needed, and the rest would be automatically distributed to the Kurdistan regional government, which would get 17%, and to Iraq's governorates "according to their entitlement". Revenues would be distributed monthly, he said.

Mr Hawrami said the system would better enable Iraqis to track how and where the oil funds were being spent. The Kurds, for example, have complained that remittances to their self-rule region have been being held back by up to six months in Baghdad. Iraq's Sunni Arabs had also expressed concerns that they might miss out on their share.

Iraq's finance minister, Bayan Jabr, and the oil minister, Hussein Sharistani, were accompanying the president, Jalal Talabani, on a state a visit to China and could not be contacted for comment.

The new deal came days after a visit to Iraq by the US defence secretary, Robert Gates, during which he rebuked politicians for failing to reach consensus on sharing oil revenues. The US sees the deal as a benchmark of progress toward reconciliation.
A western diplomat in Baghdad said last night: "Fair-sharing of Iraq's oil revenue is important to finding a sustainable political solution in Iraq. But on its own it will not halt the sectarianism."

Iraqi politicians agree deal on sharing oil, says Kurd minister | Iraq | Guardian Unlimited

Now thats what I like to here!!!!!
Great News Rock!!!!!!!!

wonderful!!!!!Keep up the great work!!!
Thanks for all your hard work DR!!!

Now hopefully we can take this to the BANK!!!!

YAAAHHHOOOOO!!!!

48 Hours....can you say "CRUNCH TIME"?!?!?

This should do it....

Great article, thanks Rock!

And to think it was only a week ago they were talking as if the
Oil Revenue Sharing Law was way behind everything else.
To me it was as if they were saying that they were going to go
ahead and finish the HCL without the Revenue Sharing Law and
then come back and finish the rest later.
Here is the article I am referring to, and wow they sure didn't waste
much time getting this law agreed on, let's hope the rest goes as well.
lewscrew



WASHINGTON, June 14 (UPI) -- A military leader fresh from Iraq is the latest U.S. government official to push a common but false claim that the controversial draft oil law will lead to a just division of the proceeds from oil sales and pave the way for reconciliation in the war-torn nation. Lt. Gen. Martin Dempsey, former commander of the Multinational Security Transition Command-Iraq, forwarded claims made by the Bush administration and Congress that if Iraq passes an oil law, the fighting factions there will come together because revenue from oil sales will be distributed to all.

The oil law (also known as the hydrocarbons law), however, does no such thing. A separate revenue-sharing law would decide how the oil revenue is spread around the country. It is currently being negotiated, though far behind the hydrocarbons law in the Iraqi legislative process.
Dempsey, who just returned from his in-Iraq duties, told reporters at a Pentagon briefing Wednesday, "There's an interim step toward reconciliation that might better be described as accommodation," finding "ways to become dependent on each other."
The hydrocarbons law is one way, he said, "where you equitably distribute the resources of the nation, thereby encouraging these three groups to depend on each other for some common commodity."
Only a small portion of the law mentions revenue, and explicitly states that, according to the Iraqi Constitution, a separate "federal revenue law" is required to dictate how the revenue is spent.

President Bush, during remarks with visiting Iraqi President Jalal Talabani on May 21, said, "We're working very hard, for example, on getting an oil law with an oil revenue-sharing code that will help unite the country."
Such a law was included in Bush's "benchmarks for reconciliation" in Iraq.
Other U.S. officials, including the vice president during a visit to Baghdad, have expressed U.S. desires for Iraq to pass an oil law, the one with non-existent influence on the oil revenue.
Members of Congress as well push the "oil law" as important, also not distinguishing it from revenue assumptions.
"Iraqi progress on an oil law is good news and an important step forward," Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., said in a Feb. 27 statement after Iraqi negotiators initially approved the hydrocarbons law. "Fair-sharing of Iraq's oil revenue is key to a sustainable political solution, but an oil law by itself will not end the sectarian warfare in Iraq," added Biden, who is in favor of breaking Iraq into Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish states.
The Democratic-led Congress, de****e calls from the more progressive members, enshrined the oil law benchmark for the Iraqi government in the Iraq war-spending bill approved last month:
"Enacting and implementing legislation to ensure the equitable distribution of hydrocarbon resources of the people of Iraq without regard to the sect or ethnicity of recipients, and enacting and implementing legislation to ensure that the energy resources of Iraq benefit Sunni Arabs, Shia Arabs, Kurds, and other Iraqi citizens in an equitable manner."
Iraq oil sales made up more than 93 percent of its federal budget last year. Iraq sells about 1.6 million barrels per day.
The oil law would set guidelines for how Iraq's vast 115 billion barrels of proven reserves -- third-largest in the world -- are developed. It would determine the role of the central, regional and provincial governments and the extent of foreign companies' access to Iraq's oil, most of which isn't being pumped (and a lot more is considered to be undiscovered).
"The draft hydrocarbons framework law does not define specific terms for the distribution of Iraq's oil revenue," Christopher Blanchard, Middle East policy analyst for the Congressional Research Service, told United Press International. "The law would require Iraq's Council of Ministers to submit a separate federal revenue law to regulate a central Oil Revenue Fund and ensure the fair distribution of oil revenue."
The revenue law is the legislation that would dictate how and to whom the money is distributed.
"The hydrocarbons framework law is important," Blanchard said, "but if equitable oil revenue sharing is a key benchmark for political reconciliation and progress in Iraq, then the ongoing discussions among Iraqis about the terms of the draft revenue law deserve more attention."
As an occupying power in a country rocked by instability after more than four years of war, the misguided pressure on the oil law from the U.S. government actors is likely to work against their stated aims -- ensuring Iraqis reap the benefits from their oil.



United Press International - Energy - Analysis

Originally Posted by lewscrew

Great article, thanks Rock!

And to think it was only a week ago they were talking as if the
Oil Revenue Sharing Law was way behind everything else.
To me it was as if they were saying that they were going to go
ahead and finish the HCL without the Revenue Sharing Law and
then come back and finish the rest later.
Here is the article I am referring to, and wow they sure didn't waste
much time getting this law agreed on, let's hope the rest goes as well.
lewscrew

See now what misleading ways they are using against the speculators. lol.

Great news Rock

Maybe this time they will meet the deadline of June 30th...

This is getting really cool!!!!