Jassim Muhammad Jaafar, a State of Law coalition member, stated that on Thursday, the Kurdish parties expressed their support for the continued failure to pass the oil and gas law. He further added that if the law is passed, it will result in the end of Kurdistan’s authority over oil extraction and export operations.
In an interview, Jaafar stated that the National Marketing Company (SOMO) and all the powers that the regional government currently holds according to the new law will be given priority. He also noted that there seems to be a lenient attitude from the governments towards the Kurdish parties in approving the oil and gas law.
He stated, “Interfering with the approval of the oil and gas law is a strategy to perpetuate the stealing of oil funds from central and southern Iraq.” He also highlighted that “the Kurdistan Region aims to regain authority over the oil file and work with the government to distribute the profits earned from the sale of oil from central and southern Iraq.”
Jaafar concluded his speech by noting that the regional government placed obstacles to the approval of the oil and gas law on more than one occasion. He mentioned that approving the law would end Kurdistan’s control over oil extraction and export operations.
The Kurdish parties are hindering the approval of the oil and gas law, which must be voted on in Parliament. This is necessary to put an end to the smuggling and theft of oil by the Kurdistan Regional Government, without the involvement of the central government, and the seizure of revenue funds in general.
