TNT:
Tishwash: looks like it’s acutally done now
Iraq and Total Energies sign an agreement worth $27 billion
Iraq and French oil giant Total Energies on Monday signed a long-delayed agreement worth $27 billion to implement four oil, gas and renewable energy projects.
The agreement was signed in 2021 with initial investments of ten billion dollars in southern Iraq for a period of 25 years, but it was postponed due to disagreements between Iraqi politicians regarding the terms of the deal. Link
Tishwash: Al-Sudani on the French deal: We have come a long way to reach this stage
During the meeting, according to a statement by Al-Sudani’s office, which {Euphrates News} received a copy of, “the aspects of cooperation within the contract that was recently concluded between Iraq and Total were discussed, as His Excellency blessed the start of the executive steps on the ground, and stressed that the government has made great strides with commitments and access to this stage.” Indicating that the contract with the company and the fifth licensing round fall within the strategic vision for gas investment, which Iraq was late to start investing in.
Al-Sudani renewed the government’s direction towards concluding serious partnerships with major companies with regard to investing in natural resources, and benefiting from associated gas in particular.
For his part, Pouyanné indicated his company’s direction towards broad cooperation with Iraq, its confidence in partnership in the fields of energy, and investment in promising and ambitious sectors in this field, stressing that the company’s technical teams will begin their work in their locations within days. link
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Tishwash: Iraq and Kuwait discuss strengthening bilateral relations and ways to develop them
Today, Monday, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Fuad Hussein discussed with the Kuwaiti Ambassador to Iraq, Tariq Abdullah Al-Faraj, strengthening bilateral relations and ways to develop them between the two countries.
The media office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs stated in a statement received by “Baghdad Today”, that “the latter received today the Ambassador of the State of Kuwait to Iraq, Tariq Abdullah Al-Faraj,” noting that “during the meeting, they discussed strengthening bilateral relations and ways to develop them.”
The statement indicated that “the two sides discussed the upcoming visit of the Kuwaiti Foreign Minister to Iraq, as well as the outcomes of the recent technical meetings of the joint Iraqi-Kuwaiti committee that held its work recently to discuss the memorandum of understanding on joint oil fields between the two countries.”
He pointed out that “the preparations for the Baghdad Conference for Cooperation and Partnership in its third edition for neighboring countries and the region, scheduled to be held before the end of this year in Baghdad, were discussed, and the importance of continuing to hold these conferences and joint meetings in a way that contributes to achieving stability and enhancing the security of the region.” link
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Tishwash: The most controversial law.. Oil and gas are back to the fore again
Official circles are waiting for the start of a new phase of the journey to resolve the fate of the draft oil and gas law, as one of the most controversial laws after 2003. The renewed oil dispute between Baghdad and Erbil in each government was a cause of political estrangement at times and turned into part of the settlement files built on Its basis is a fragile relationship between the federal government and the Kurdistan region.
The oil and gas law is a pending file, so as soon as an interim agreement saw the light – as happened before the formation of the government – the draft law was left in the drawers of Parliament.
On February 15, 2022, the Federal Supreme Court ruled that the private oil and gas law in the regional government was unconstitutional. The decision also stipulated that the oil contracts concluded by the Kurdistan government with oil companies, parties, and foreign countries are invalid.
Representatives believe that the current time is one of the best times for passing the complex law, thanks to partial and interim stability in the relationship between Baghdad and Erbil, despite the Kurdistan Judicial Council’s rejection of the Federal Supreme Court’s decision to hand over crude oil to the federal government, stressing the constitutionality of the oil law in force in the region.
The oil and gas law in Iraq, which has been awaiting legislation in Parliament since 2005, stipulates that the management of all oil fields in the country must be under the responsibility of a national oil company under the supervision of a specialized federal council.
A member of the Parliamentary Energy Committee, Kazem Al-Touki, said, “The oil and gas law consists of political and technical aspects,” pointing to the need to take into account the timing of its approval by saying that “the best time to pass it is the current time, because the Kurdish parties are forced to legislate it after preventing the region from exporting oil, and this It means more flexibility in Erbil’s position.”
The federal government had resorted to international arbitration procedures with Turkey in 2014 at the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris, which in 2022 issued its decision in favor of Baghdad. The ruling led to the suspension of exports and obligated the Kurdistan government to negotiate with the federal government.
And the representative of the National Union, Karwan Ali, expected that “the oil and gas law will be approved according to the government’s curriculum during the coming months, because it is an important law and regulates the extraction of the country’s wealth.”
Ali believes that “it is unreasonable for a country like Iraq to remain without an oil and gas law,” stressing that “this law will fundamentally solve the problems between Baghdad and Erbil, and it may be approved within 6 months.” link
