Erbil (SouthernKurdistan) UPI - January 22, -- Norwegian oil firm
DNO says its contract with the Kurdistan Regional Government doesn't need to be
reviewed or renegotiated by the central Iraqi government.
DNO was the first firm to begin work in Iraq's oil sector after the U.S.-led
invasion. It has began developing oil in the semi-autonomous and relatively safe
northern Kurdistan region.
But a split between the KRG and the central government over control of oil has
been festering.
The Iraq Oil Ministry has said it won't honor any contracts over oil signed by
the regions, though the KRG says the constitution puts new oil development in
Iraq under regional control.
Iraq has an estimated 115 billion barrels of proven crude reserves -- the
third-largest in the world.
It is producing only about 2 million barrels a day, more than a half million
barrels less than before the war, because of mismanagement under Saddam Hussein,
U.N. sanctions, and the effects of the invasion and near civil war.
Iraq doesn't have a law governing its oil, and ongoing negotiations have been
hampered by the regional vs. central control squabble.
But the KRG is saying this is one issue it won't bend on.
Helg Edi, executive chairman of DNO, said he's been assured there won't be a
renegotiation of the company's Kurdistan activities which are about half of the
Norwegian firm's worth, Iraq Directory reports.
The opinions which say that each contract will be renegotiated are inconsistent
with the information we have heard, Edi said.
We should not jump to conclusions but must wait till (the law) is completed and
officially announced
