Interview
Harry Istepanian, a senior fellow at Iraq Energy Institute speaking to Rudaw on July 19, 2022. Photo: Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The ruling of an Iraqi top court deeming the Kurdistan Region's oil and gas law as unconstitutional is "political," an energy expert told Rudaw, adding that the decision has enormous consequences for oil companies in the Region.
"The last decision by the court was more political than anything else," Harry Istepanian, a senior fellow at Iraq Energy Institute told Rudaw's Mohammed Sheikh Fatih on June 19, adding that the problem with the oil and gas law is not new and affects the entire country.
Istepanian stated that according to the Iraqi constitution, the country's oil belongs to the entire Iraqi population, and as such the Kurdistan Region's population must have a share of the oil as they are part of Iraq "like any other Iraqi in the central or in the south."
Iraq's Federal Court in February found the Kurdistan Region's oil and gas law to be "unconstitutional," therefore striking down the legal basis for the independence of the Region's oil and gas sector. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) responded to the decision, saying that the court's ruling is not only "unconstitutional" but also "unjust."
The energy expert stressed the damage caused by the federal ruling, saying "the consequences of this ruling by the court are enormous" and that it has a detrimental impact on the ability of international oil companies' (IOCs) to operate in the Kurdistan Region.
"The IOCs will take this decision of the court to the International Arbitration Tribunal and it will take many years before a decision will be made whether the court ruling needs to be applied or not," he said.
On Monday, Iraq's oil ministry claimed that three major US energy firms - Schlumberger, Baker Hughes, and Halliburton - have confirmed to the ministry that they will no longer tender for new projects in the Kurdistan Region.
Touching on Iraq's energy demands, the expert believes that Baghdad "will not reach the 50 million cubic meters of gas it needs from Iran this summer," due to factors such as Tehran's domestic demands as well as its export to other neighboring countries. He said that Iraq only gets around 40 million cubic meters now, which falls short of its demands.
Istepanian in June said that Iraq's energy problems can be solved through reform in its energy sector.
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