Tishwash: Parliamentary Committee Expects Oil and Gas Law to Be Approved Soon: Delayed Because It Is a Political Pressure Card
The Parliamentary Oil and Gas Committee expressed its “optimism” on Sunday about the imminent approval of the Oil and Gas Law, which has been suspended for 19 years, noting that its delay was due to it being a political pressure card used throughout the past years in forming successive governments.
Committee member Nazim Al-Shabli said, “The oil and gas law is the most important of the suspended laws,” noting that “it was being exploited as a political pressure card in forming governments.”
But Al-Shabli expected that “the most serious government in this file is Al-Sudani’s government,” noting that “clear committees have been formed between Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government, but so far the government has not sent the final version to the House of Representatives or the Oil Committee.”
Al-Shabli expressed the Oil Committee’s hope that “the relevant committees will resolve the issue and send it to Parliament, given the benefits of the law in regulating oil exports and stopping smuggling or selling oil outside SOMO,” believing that “this issue will be resolved in the coming days.”
He stressed that “the delay of the law came because it is a political card, especially since the region wants the law and considers it to be in its interest, in addition to the fact that it has old obligations and contracts with foreign companies, in addition to the continuation of smuggling.”
About a year has passed since the formation of the committee to draft the oil and gas law, after a 19-year delay in the law that regulates the relationship between Baghdad and Erbil with regard to the management of oil in Kurdistan and the rest of the provinces,” while the law is considered one of the most important laws that have been suspended for years, amounting to more than 150 laws. link
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Tishwash: Iraq stores gold and expects it to rise in the next two months
Economic expert, Abdul Rahman Al-Shaikhli, expects Iraq’s gold reserves to rise over the next two months.
Al-Mashhadani told {Euphrates News} that: “Owning gold is considered part of the investment portfolio that countries seek, and Iraq has been storing gold and increasing its reserves for many years, especially with expectations of its rise during the next two months, and this means that the rise in gold prices is continuing and is part of the countries’ investments.”
He explained that “maintaining dollar reserves or investing in treasury bonds does not achieve profits commensurate with the size of the profits achieved from the increase in gold prices, although Iraq increased its reserves by two and a half tons of gold.”
Al-Mashhadani pointed out that “these are not large numbers that enhance citizen confidence and diversify investments, and this is the policy of a group of countries and banks, not just Iraq.”
Data from the International Monetary Fund showed an increase in gold reserves in Iraq and Qatar.
The data indicated that Iraq increased its gold holdings by 2,644 tons to 148,305 tons in May 2024.
The data showed that Qatar raised its gold stock by 3,112 tons to 106,423 tons in June 2024, according to Reuters. link
