The Kurdish Regional Governement (KRG) yesterday published the oil agreements it has made with foreign oil companies in a bid to take a lead on transparency.
Dr Hawrami said, “The Kurdistan Region Oil and Gas Council, headed by Prime Minister Barham Salih, has decided to take the next step in implementing our policy of transparency and commitment to freedom of information in Kurdistan’s oil and gas sector, in line with the Region’s oil and gas law of 2007.”
The KRG has frequently accused Baghdad of lacking transparency in managing the oil sector outside Kurdistan, and continue to push back against the Iraqi Oil Ministry’s claim that PSCs are unconstitional and unlawful, as they give away ownership stakes in oil resources.
Baghdad wants to see Kurdish PSCs converted to fee-per-barrel technical services agreements (TSCs), which has led the KRG to reject the current draft of the proposed oil laws in parliament and has led to a variety of independent producers entering the region.
The KRG have been keen to emphasise that the production boom instigated by the offer of PSCs has been good for the region. “These contracts have put the Kurdistan Region of Iraq firmly on the global energy map, and have helped to internationalise the economy here after years of enforced isolation,” Dr Hawrami said. “As a result, we now know that the Region has potential reserves of 45 billion barrels of oil and 3-6 trillion cubic meters of gas. We are exporting oil from the Region for the first time, with export capacity reaching 200,000 barrels per day by the end of the year.”
The fresh release of documents – which includes the Production Sharing Contracts for concessions being explored and drilled by DNO, Repsol, Genel Eneji, Marathon and Hess – follows the previous publication of the PSCs for the producing oil fields at Tawke and Taq Taq. Nineteen PSCs with ancilliary documentation have been published so far, with the rest to follow in “the next few days”.
Baghdad has previously disclosed the model TSCs offered in bidding rounds, but has never disclosed signed deals that could have been subject to amendment.
Dr Hawrami added, “Our citizens can see that these contracts have provided the right balance between risk and reward, attracting world class international oil companies from 18 different countries. Billions of dollars of inward investment have come to Kurdistan as a result; thousands of jobs have been created; the provision of electricity has vastly improved; and the exploration and discovery process has resulted in discoveries of oil and gas that will continue to benefit the people of Kurdistan and Iraq for decades to come.”
