Barzani says he had informed PM Maliki before signing oil contract with US Exxonmobil

ARBIL / IraqiNews.com: North Iraq Kurdistan Region‘s President, Massoud Barzani, has said on Thursday that his Region wouldcontinue implementing its contract for oil excavation with the US Exxonmobil Company, despite oppositions by the Central Iraqi Government in Baghdad.”The Region shall continue implementing the contract it had concluded for oil excavation, despite oppositions by the CentralGovernment in Baghdad, whilst Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, had been informed about the contract before its signing, and he had not expressed any objection,” Barzani told Reuters News Agency, describing “Baghdad‘s opposition for the contractas unconstitutional.””The contract is not unconstitutional..Yes, we have signed it with Exxonmobil, according to the Constitution,” Barzani said.Noteworthy is that Exxonmobil had been the first major company that entered the Kurdish Region in northern Iraq last October,when it signed with the Kurdistan Region‘s government an agreement, covering 6 excavation areas.Iraq‘s Oil Ministry had described the agreement as “illegal and might cause the cancellation of a contract, signed with Exxonmobilto develop the 1st phase of southern Iraq‘s West-Qurna Major Oil Field.”No comment had been issued by Exxon on the agreement, according to Iraqi Oil officials.Barzani said: “The agreement with Exxon shall be useful for Iraq as a whole, and not the Kurdish Region only,” adding that “he had been taken by surprise to hear the warning, issued by Baghdad recently about the said agreement,” describing it as “really strange andhad no meaning, as regards to us.””Our first step had been a message I sent to the Prime Minister and told him about the details of the contract, and the reply had been that there wasn’t any objection before the signing of the contract,” he added.Barzani criticized Iraq‘s oil policy, saying: “Baghdad is delaying its agreement on the Oil & Gas Law, agreed upon between both governments in 2007.””Iraq‘s oil policy is an abortive policy, and I say it clearly: ‘ask the Iraqi people about the whereabouts of the oil wells and howmany hours Iraqi citizens are getting electric power in southern and central Iraq, whilst Iraq is sitting on a sea of oil?,” he asked, further asking: “if this had not been an abortive policy..What is it then?”Barzani has renewed Kurdistan Region‘s position that the Oil & Gas contracts, signed between the Kurdistan government had been constitutional and the Kurdistan Region would not undermine such rights, in order to overcome its conflicts with Baghdad. “According to the agreement, signed in 2007, the Kurdistan Region‘s government and the Central Government had agreed tocontinue signing contracts with oil companies, till the promulgation of the Oil & Gas Law, that had been delayed for a long time,” Barzani concluded.SKH (ST)775