It was a negative meeting,” an informed Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) source tells MEES of the 12 February meeting held at Iraq’s Oil Ministry in Baghdad. The “set back” further reduces the prospects of reaching a deal on a mutually accepted federal oil and gas law to codify the development of hydrocarbon resources across the entire country. Specifically, the law would provide a legislative framework for the KRG’s independent oil sector, which was last year ruled unconstitutional by Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court (FSC) (MEES, 18 February 2022).
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani had promised to pass the law within six months of his cabinet’s formation (MEES, 7 October 2022). That had always appeared a highly optimistic timeframe, and indeed it looks increasingly difficult to achieve. More than 100 days have passed, and despite making progress on coordinating some security affairs with the KRG, oil remains an insurmountable hurdle. Thus far, the PM has been unable to escape tremendous pressure from anti-KRG factions within the ruling Shia Coordination Framework (SCF) that brought him to office. (CONTINUED - 1370 WORDS)
