The Kurdistan Region passed its oil and gas law in 2007, enabling it to administer and develop its own oil and gas resources.
The Iraqi Federal Supreme Court’s decision found the law to be “unconstitutional” in February, therefore striking down the legal basis for the independence of the Kurdistan Region’s oil and gas sector.
Erbil and Baghdad have since been at loggerheads, with both sides repeatedly refuting the other’s claims regarding the constitutionality of the law.
Stephane Dujarric, the spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, stated that Guterres has renewed his call for the federal and regional government to hold talks regarding this issue, in hopes of reaching a “constitutionally based” understanding.
“The Secretary-General renews his call for an institutionalized, structured and regular dialogue between the Federal Government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government leading to lasting, constitutionally based agreements on outstanding issues, including on the sharing of energy resources,” Dujarric told Rudaw’s Majeed Gly via email on Tuesday.
In April, the first round of talks between the two governments on the matter proceeded positively, according to comments from representatives of both sides, but no further rounds of talks have been held since.
The Kurdistan judicial council stated on Tuesday that the Region’s oil and gas law was not a violation of the Iraq constitution, and that Erbil had the right to exclusively manage fields that were found after 2005, days after the Iraqi National Oil Company claimed that the term “present fields” did not mean that the federal government would be exempted from managing future fields.
