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The Iraqi Oil Minister, Dr. Hussain Shahristani is to be questioned by the country’s lawmakers regarding claims that he has mismanaged the Gulf state’s huge hydrocarbons reserves.
The meeting, scheduled for November 11, is the second time Shahristani has had to answer such allegations. In June the minister survived a no confidence vote just before the first round of auctions for development contracts for Iraq’s oil and gas fields took place.
Only one development contract was agreed at the first auction. A BP-led consortium agreed to Iraq’s terms for the Rumaila field.
“Parliament has decided to set 11 November as a final date for questioning Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani,” oil and gas committee secretary Jabir Khalifa Jabir is reported by Reuters as saying.
Shahristani has been under fire over the past six months from all quarters of Iraq’s oil & gas industry as well as from politicians.
Some politicians have voiced concerns that the complicated contract auction process has delayed the signing of agreements and has meant that Iraq has lost billions of dollars of oil revenues.
However, Iraq has made a number of development deals recently. An Eni-led consortium is to develop the Zubair field while a Nippon Oil-led consortium will develop the Nassiriya field.Â
