Al-Atwani: Agreement with the Kurdistan Regional Government to review its oil contracts and adapt them constitutionally, 28 SEPT

  Al-Atwani: Agreement with the Kurdistan Regional Government to review its oil contracts and adapt them constitutionally

9/26/2024

 The head of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Atwan Al Atwani, announced today, Thursday, an agreement with the Kurdistan Regional Government to review its oil contracts and adapt them constitutionally.

A statement from his office, a copy of which was received by {Atlfrat News}, stated that "the parliamentary finance committee delegation, currently visiting Erbil, headed by Al-Atwani, held an expanded technical meeting with representatives of the Kurdistan Regional Government, in the regional council of ministers building, to discuss resolving the outstanding issues between Baghdad and Erbil."

Al-Atwani said, "The meeting reviewed the oil files, financial revenues, automation of border crossings, unification of customs tariffs, and localization of employees' salaries," announcing "the development of a roadmap to resolve the points of contention between the central government and the regional government regarding the oil export file."

He stressed that "the attendees reached an initial agreement with the regional government to conduct a comprehensive review of the oil contracts to adapt them to the Iraqi constitution, in preparation for solving the problem of the halt in the region's oil exports," explaining that "the agreement stipulates that the central government and the regional government enter as a unified party in negotiations with international oil companies operating in the region with the aim of amending their contracts from production partnership to profit-sharing, in addition to reviewing the economic and commercial terms."

Al-Atwani pointed out that "the parliamentary finance committee is working to establish a sound basis for negotiations on resolving the pending issues, in order to resolve the oil export file during this year and eliminate the differences with the region," stressing that "the committee will meet, upon its return to Baghdad, with the federal oil ministry, in order to discuss the controversial issues and push towards resolving them under the umbrella of the constitution."

He said, "The meeting reviewed, in numbers, the steps for implementing the file of localizing the salaries of the region's employees, where the necessity of adhering to the decisions of the Federal Court was emphasized."

The meeting also discussed, according to Al-Atwani, the file of border crossings, customs, and taxes, and ways to include their revenues in the country's general budget, and the extent of the regional government's commitment to sending these funds to the federal government.  LINK