The Kurdistan Region’s position on the formation of the new Iraqi government is summarized in the following 19 points. The new government must be dedicated to the following:
1- Commitment to the Iraqi Constitution, with all of its articles without exception, and protection of Iraq’s federal, democratic system
2- A coalition government in which all major Iraqi components participate
3- Commitment to the principle of partnership and participation in decision-making through:
a. Establishment of a Council on National Security, to be created through the passing of a special law at the same time as the government is formed
b. Drafting of bylaws for the Council of Ministers which would give it added legitimacy and institutionalization. Through joint decision-making, the Council would ensure that administrative and financial powers are shared between the Prime Minister and his deputies
c. Adherence to the principle of consensus
4- Formation of a Federal Council within the first year of this Parliament. The President and his deputies have the right to veto legislation until this Council is formed
5- Amendment of the current electoral law to guarantee that all Iraqis are represented fairly
6- The census should be conducted on time in October 2010
7- Review of the structures of the security and military forces to reflect a fair representation of all Iraqis in these forces
8- Introduction of checks and balances in all Ministries and Institutions of state
9- Implementation of Article 140 of Iraq’s Constitution and allocation of the necessary budget within a period that does not exceed two years following the formation of the government
10- Passage of a law for water resources within the first year of the government formation on the basis of the latest agreed-upon draft
11- Passage of a law for oil and gas within the first year of the government formation on the basis of the latest agreed-upon draft
12- Supplying the Peshmerga forces with arms, equipments, and funds as part of the Iraqi national defense system
13- Support for the Kurdistan Region’s candidate for the post of President of the Republic
14- Compensation for the victims of the former regime, including the victims of the Anfal campaign and chemical bombings of Halabja and other places, immediately and justly
15- The Kurdistan Region’s blocs should have a fair representation within the sovereign ministries and other institutions based on national gains in the elections
16- The Kurdistan Region should have the right to cross-examine candidates for the posts of minister of any sovereign ministries and those ministries that are relevant to the Region
17- The Kurdistan Region’s negotiating team should elect a candidate for the post of the Secretary of the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers
18- In the event that the Kurdistan Region’s blocs withdraw from the government due to a clear breach of the Constitution, the Iraqi government would then be considered dissolved
19- The Prime Minister’s bloc in both the Parliament and the Council of Ministers must make a commitment to the implementation of the above terms.
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KBC: Maliki signs agreement to Kurdish conditions
Tuesday, December 21st 2010 7:24 AM
Baghdad, Dec. 21 (AKnews) - An MP from the Kurdistan Blocs Coalition (KBC) said on Monday evening that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki officially signed the Kurdish demands paper before submitting his government formation to the presidency of parliament.
Mahmoud Othman told AKnews that al-Maliki signed the paper that contains the KBC’s conditions of participation in the federal government without objecting to any of its paragraphs.
Speaker of Parliament Osama Najafi said at a joint press conference with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki that parliament will vote on the cabinet formation on Tuesday, noting that Maliki had submitted the government program and his list of new ministers.
The 19-paragraph paper issued by the KBC as a precondition of their participation in the central government includes a demand that article 140 of the Iraqi constitution is implemented without further delay – resolving territorial disputes between Baghdad and the Kurdistan region over Mosul, Kirkuk and other border areas.
Another matter of concern in the paper is the status of the oil deals signed by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) with foreign companies; contracts that Baghdad has maintained are not legal.
Kurdish MP Saeed Rasul Khoshnaw said on Monday that the KBC has been granted a deputy Primer Minister position and five ministerial portfolios in Maliki’s government.
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http://www.iraqoilreport.com/politic...revealed-5215/
By Ben Lando of Iraq Oil Report
Published December 15, 2010
BAGHDAD - In exchange for the decisive support they gave to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s bid for a second term, the political bloc representing the Kurdistan region demanded measures that would give it significant autonomy within Iraq’s oil sector.
In a previously undisclosed communiqué to Maliki, Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) President Massoud Barzani called for the passage of a specific revenue sharing law sometime “in the 2011 financial year” and an oil law “at the beginning of next year, 2011.”The Kurdistan Alliance, which has 57 seats in the 325-member Parliament, also wants the KRG’s laws to trump federal laws in any dispute over the legality of the 37 oil deals signed by the KRG with foreign oil companies, in defiance of Baghdad.
The demands were issued on August 21, 2010, and remained in force as the Kurds pursued a coalition-building dialogue with Maliki in October and November, according to a source familiar with the Kurdish side of the negotiations. Those talks culminated in second terms for Maliki and President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd.
For the past four years, the KRG’s leaders in Erbil have been at odds with Baghdad over key issues, including the proper boundaries of Kurdish territory and the region’s level of control over its oil sector. Maliki’s administration has condemned the KRG’s contracts with foreign oil companies as illegal – a dispute which has effectively locked in a prospective 150,000 barrels per day (bpd) of potential oil exports. The KRG Ministry of Natural Resources Minister Ashti Hawrami said fields in the region could export one million bpd in a few years.
According to officials involved in the government formation negotiations, a final agreement that would sanction the KRG contracts will not be reached until the government is fully formed and the Parliament revisits legislation to govern the oil sector, which has been stalled since 2008.
“It’s a demand (for) recognition of the KRG oil deals and pay the companies,” said independent Kurdistan Alliance Parliamentarian Mahmoud Othman. “All the problems will be solved when there is a hydrocarbons law.” The draft law calls for a federal oil and gas council, “and that council will decide on the (legality) of the contracts,” Othman said. “It will take time.”
Maliki has until Dec. 26 to finalize the formation his government, which includes a tense allocation of key positions to winning parties, including leadership of the ministries of Oil and Finance.
As that deadline looms, nearly all of Iraq’s elected officials are refusing to disclose details of the political jockeying. Maliki ally Abbas al-Bayati ended an interview when questions turned to Kurdish-Arab relations, including Barzani’s recent public statements asserting Kurdistan’s rights to oil-rich and disputed Kirkuk. (KRG officials have said the comments were taken out of context and misunderstood.)
“We will look to the (KRG oil) contracts in a way that will dismiss all the differences,” Bayati said. He wouldn’t get into specifics but alluded to a general agreement that key oil-related laws would provide the path to reconciliation.
Despite pre-government-formation gestures that trend toward political harmony, the underlying disputes that stalled these laws in 2008 have not been resolved.
Iraq’s 2005 Constitution leaves unanswered several key oil-related questions, and calls for a suite of definitive legislation to structure the oil sector. Those laws were pushed hard by the U.S. government and various Iraqi officials beginning in 2006, but faltered first in the cabinet and then in Parliament over two key issues: the federal Oil Ministry’s exclusive right to sign contracts, and the extent to which foreign companies will be allowed into the country’s oil sector.
That stalled legislation seems likely to serve as the starting point for future n
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Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki's plan to unveil a national unity cabinet was in disarray on Monday as political parties squabbled over posts and the timing of the announcement was put in doubt.
While Al Maliki had been expected to name his entire cabinet except for three sensitive posts linked to national security, politicians said that as many as half of the ministerial positions were still undecided.
The divisions come with no new cabinet having been formed since elections in March, as a Saturday deadline looms for a new government to be in place.
"The problem is that many political blocs are all asking for the same post at the same time. Because of this, there is still no agreement," said Khaled Al Assadi, an MP in Al Maliki's coalition who is seen as close to the premier.
"I can say that only half the ministries have been decided so far," he added. "The three security ministries will not be presented today, and they may not present the deputy prime ministers either."
Even the time of the announcement was in doubt, with an adviser to Al Maliki and a government spokesman insisting it would be yesterday afternoon, while two lawmakers said the announcement would be delayed until tomorrow.
Hurdles
Zafer Al Ani, a leading member of the Al Iraqiya bloc, whose name was removed from the debaathification list by the parliament on Sunday, told Gulf News there were three major hurdles facing Al Maliki in his effort to form a government. Those hurdles include naming the ministers of defence, interior and national security in addition to the head of the intelligence services.The second is finalising the nominee list by all blocs taking part in the cabinet.
"Most of the blocs taking part in the cabinet, including Al Iraqiya, which is entitled to have ten posts in the cabinet, have not yet finalized their lists as each bloc has some reservations about the other blocs' representatives nominated for the cabinet. Those reservations must be resolved before submitting the formation to the parliament," he said.
Al Ani said the third hurdle that must be resolved before submitting the cabinet list to parliament is related to the Kurds. They will not take part in the government unless they receive a written promise from Al Maliki that the issue of Kirkuk will be discussed right after the formation of the cabinet.
"Kurds are not willing to join a government that has no obligation to discuss the crucial issue of the disputed oil-rich city of Kirkuk. Al Maliki believes that demanding a written promise to discuss Kirkuk is meant only to humiliate him in his position as prime minister," Al Ani said.
The pan-Kurdish alliance, which holds around 50 seats in the 325-member parliament, had not yet decided on who its ministers would be. He also said the Kurdish bloc, key to the formation of the cabinet, would not take part in the government if Al Maliki did not approve deals the autonomous Kurdish region signed with oil companies without Baghdad's initial approval.
The contracts were signed in 2004 but the central government in Baghdad has refused to recognise them.
"Kurds felt alienated after Sunnis and Shi'ites united to form the government. They do not want to put all their eggs in Al Maliki's basket," Hassan Al Zaidi, a political analyst and expert in Iraqi affairs, told Gulf News.
http://gulfnews.com/news/region/iraq/squabbling-delays-al-maliki-s-plans-to-unveil-new-cabinet-1.733302
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22 September 2010
Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd. (AIM: GKP)
("Gulf Keystone" or "the Company")
Kurdistan Operational Update
Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd., an independent oil and gas exploration company, today provides an update on its operations in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq ("Kurdistan").
Shaikan Long Term Test Facilities
The recently constructed production test facilities near the location of the Shaikan-1 discovery well in the Shaikan Block (75% GKP working interest) are being commissioned. Initial flow rates are low to allow facility commissioning and will be kept low, pending receipt of oil assay results which will assist in determining a domestic sales price and allow finalisation of the oil sales contracts. Facility commissioning, assay finalisation and sales contract negotiation are expected to take several weeks. Test operations are well on track to reach the previously announced year end target production rate of 8,000 to 10,000 barrels of oil per day ("bopd").
John Gerstenlauer, Chief Operating Officer for Gulf Keystone said: "This marks the end of a seven month accelerated design and construction project to install the 18,000 bopd capacity facility and the beginning of a long term (18 to 24 month) production test of the top most reservoir in the Jurassic age section of the Shaikan well. This extended test of the upper portion of the Jurassic will give us valuable information on production characteristics, market logistics and oil sales procedures within Kurdistan. In addition, use of these prefabricated production facilities will serve as a model for future testing and production of other potential oil accumulations on our acreage."
Bijeel-1
Testing and evaluation are continuing on the MOL operated Bijeel-1 well in the Akri-Bijeel Block (20% GKP working interest). The previous announcement of a 3,200 bopd test already makes this one of the more significant discoveries in Kurdistan. Additional testing and evaluation work are still ongoing. However, the initial indication of the oil-water contact in this well is supportive of the concept of a single regional aquifer; this further supports the upside oil volume scenario for all four blocks in which GKP has an interest. In addition, it appears that the Bijeel structure could be a southern extension of the much larger Bekhme structure. The Bekhme exploration well is planned for late 2010 or early 2011.
Sheikh Adi-1
On Sheikh Adi-1, following the sticking of the bottom hole assembly at a depth of 450 metres and the necessary sidetrack to drill around the obstruction, the well is now at 500 metres which is the 20" casing point.
Shaikan-3
On the shallow Shaikan-3 appraisal well, near the site of Shaikan-1, the well is drilling ahead at 837 metres with the next casing point expected at 900 metres and the first zones of interest expected to be encountered soon after that.
Enquiries:
Gulf Keystone Petroleum:
+44 (0) 20 7514 1400
Todd Kozel, Executive Chairman
Ewen Ainsworth, Chief Financial Officer
Strand Hanson Limited
+44 (0)20 7409 3494
Simon Raggett / Rory Murphy / James Harris
Mirabaud Securities LLP
+44 (0)20 7878 3362
Peter Krens
Brunswick Group LLP
+44 (0) 20 7404 5959
Patrick Handley / Pip Green
or visit: www.gulfkeystone.com
John Gerstenlauer, the Company's Chief Operating Officer, who has 31 years of relevant experience within the sector meets the criteria of a qualified person under the AIM note for mining, oil and gas companies and has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this announcement. Mr Gerstenlauer is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers.
Notes to Editors:
§ Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd. (AIM: GKP) is an independent oil and gas exploration company focused on exploration in the Kurdistan region of Northern Iraq.
§ Gulf Keystone Petroleum International ("GKPI") holds Production Sharing Contracts for fourexploration blocks in Kurdistan.
§ The Company's shares have traded on the AIM market since listing on 8 Sept 2004.
§ Gulf Keystone Petroleum Limited is registered in Hamilton, Bermuda with offices in Erbil, Kurdistan, Algiers, Algeria and London, UK.
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