I know this was already posted but...
UPDATE:Iraq Kurdish PM: Oil Law Deal Reached With Baghdad
12-21-2006 7:34 AM EST
(Updates an item timed at 1039 GMT with background.)
The prime minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government in northern Iraq, Nechirvan Barzani, said he has reached an agreement with the federal government on the control of oil in the region, a major source of friction between the Kurds and Baghdad and a stumbling block that was delaying the issuance of a crucial hydrocarbon law.
Barzani also said that the Iraqi federal government would discuss in a few days a final draft of an Iraqi hydrocarbon law before sending it to the parliament in Baghdad for approval.
A hydrocarbon law is crucial for Iraq as a basis for international oil companies to begin discussions on investing in the country's under-exploited and run-down hydrocarbon sector and to generate much-needed reconstruction revenues for the country's coffers.
"After long discussions we have reached positive and good results on the issue of oil," Barzani told reporters in the Kurdish city of Erbil Wednesday night after concluding several days of talks in Baghdad.
The Kurds are pressing for control of oil resources in their northern territories and a significant share of oil revenue, which has provoked anger in Baghdad. Officials in the capital say oil resources across Iraq should be controlled by the federal government in Baghdad.
The issue of who should sign oil contracts with international companies in the Kurdistan region was the main sticking point preventing the federal hydrocarbon law from being accepted.
A preliminary draft copy of the law, obtained by Dow Jones Newswires earlier this month, stated that all oil contracts with international companies should be handled by the Iraqi Oil Ministry in Baghdad.
According to the new agreement reached between the Kurds and Baghdad, negotiations with international companies planning to invest in the Kurdistan region would be carried out by local officials along with a representative from the federal government in Baghdad, Barzani said.
Before a final signature of any contract, a draft copy would be sent to Baghdad for review and if the authorities in Baghdad agree on the details, the contract would be signed in Kurdistan with the company, he said.
Barzani said the federal government in Baghdad will set up a committee of experts to review and approve oil contracts.
He said it has been agreed that oil revenues should be distributed evenly among all Iraqis whether the oil produced in the north, center and south, a point already stated by the draft law.
Iraq has huge reserves, third only after Saudi Arabia and Iran. But its oil sector needs up to $20 billion in investments to raise crude oil production to 3 million barrels a day from below 2 million b/d at present.
The sticking point over a hydrocarbon had had always been the issue of how much control the regions should be given over resources in their areas.
Although Baghdad has been displeased with the fact that the Kurds have awarded contracts to oil minnows in the mostly unexplored northern part of Iraq, they are more worried it could set a precedent, particularly in the oil-rich south, where most of the country's giant hydrocarbon structures lie.
The four main principles for the draft law currently under debate remain the issue of federal versus regional control, the sharing of oil revenues, the types of contracts that are awarded and the formation of an Iraqi National Oil Company to handle the country's oil production, exports and exploration.
The Kurdish authority has already signed agreements with several small oil and gas companies, including U.S.-based Calibre Energy Inc. (CBRE), Norway's DetNorske Oljeselskap (DNO.OS) and Turkey's Petoil.
But without the hydrocarbon law, many of the large oil majors have been reluctant to make deals despite the huge oil prospects and relative security in northern Iraq.
As I have said my friends did confirm that this was part of their late night meetings, but it seemed to them anyway that more time was spent on discussing Art. 101.
Iraqi's are big on ceremony and tend to bring out special pen's for signing documents. They said so far, no major photo op's and no signing ceremonies. Not sure really what it means, other than they are still working out some issues.As well the two Americans and the German are now gone.
Gloribee
PS, they dont know Arabic, its just there take on the proceedings.