KurdistanObserver.com   Kurdish Official Says KRG Will Rejects Draft Oil Law July 11, 2007 ARBIL, (Southern Kurdistan) (Thomson Financial) - Iraq's controversial draft oil law has undergone substantial changes that threaten the interests of the northern Kurdish region, a senior Kurdish official said. Ashti Horami, minister for natural resources in the autonomous administration in the northern Kurdish region, said a key change pertained to new oil exploration contracts. 'The most significant change is that they have added a clause that says that oil exploration contracts would be decided by the central government,' Horami was quoted saying by Agence France-Presse at a session of the regional parliament. 'We do not know how they did these modifications but the changes would reduce the prerogatives of Kurdistan.' Mahmud Othman, a Kurd and a lawmaker in Iraq's embattled parliament told AFP that the Kurdish political bloc would 'vote against the law if such changes are incorporated in the bill.' A number of foreign companies have already entered into contracts with the Kurdish government and the Kurds fear the new law may lead to the termination of the deals. In May, Oil Minister Hussein Shahristani said any contract signed before the adoption of law would be cancelled. Kurdish officials say they will honour the contracts, and also claim to have reached an agreement with Baghdad whereby it will receive 17 pct of the country's oil revenues.       Copyright © 2002, Kurdistan Observer