Page 11 - MEOG Week 42 2022

MEOG NEWS IN BRIEF MEOG

POLICY opposition, putting them on a collision course countries, Iranian Deputy Petroleum Minister
with the Coordination Framework. Ahmad Asadzadeh said on Thursday.
Iraq’s political minister-designate marks a victory for former to transport Russian gas and oil through
The naming of al-Sudani as prime
“There is a good opportunity - in order
breakthrough could spur oil prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, a leading the territory of Iran, there are buyers in the
figure in the Coordination Framework
countries ... of the Persian Gulf,” Asadzadeh
spending and arch rival of al-Sadr. The Sadrists had told reporters at Russian Energy Week,
Sputinik reported.
opposed al-Sudani’s candidacy, and the recent
The political stalemate that brought Iraq to developments will only feed the longstanding The official added that Iran and Gazprom
the brink of civil war this year was broken animosity between al-Sadr and al-Maliki. An had created a roadmap for cooperation on gas
earlier this month, paving the way for a new al-Sudani premiership will also be welcomed fields.
government to start investing the windfall in Tehran, as al-Maliki is Iran’s closest and “After this situation that happened between
revenue that the country has been generating most reliable ally in Baghdad. Russia and Ukraine, at the moment our
from high oil prices. But the newly brokered Al-Sadr’s group won the most seats in last cooperation with Russia has begun to expand
consensus between major sectarian parties October’s election but failed to secure a big more and more ... Iran has also been under
also signals a return to the “old ways” of doing enough majority to form a government. Al- the sanctions regime for a long time, so Russia
politics in Iraq and with it a potential new Sadr’s decision over the summer to withdraw and Iran now understand each other more
crisis in the making. his 73 elected lawmakers from parliament and strengthen relations,” Asadzadeh said.
One year on from last year’s elections, proved a strategic blunder, as it paved the way SHANA
Iraq’s parliament this month finally decided for the Coordination Framework to snatch
on a new president, former minister of water many of those seats and become the biggest South Zagros H1 output
resources Latif Rashid, a veteran of one of bloc. Whereas al-Sadr had wanted to form
Iraq’s two main Kurdish political groups. a majority government and squeeze out his beyond plans
Rashid’s Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) Shia rivals, the Coordination Framework is
party is an ally of one of the country’s two opting for a national unity government under The CEO of South Zagros Oil and Gas
main Shia political groups, the pro-Iran al-Sudani’s leadership. This will represent a Production Company announced the
Coordination Framework. Following his return to consociational politics, something cumulative production of 20.950 billion cubic
election, Rashid named the Coordination Iraqis have protested against since 2019 due to meters of gas with an average daily production
Framework’s nominee Mohammed Shia a general perception that a grand governing of 112.600 million cubic meters of gas in
al-Sudani as prime minister-designate and coalition is a recipe for corruption. the first half of the current calendar year,
tasked him to form a new government. ARGUS which began on March 21, exceeding the gas
An al-Sudani administration should be a production plan of the company.
formality thanks to an engineered consensus According to South Zagros Oil and Gas
among most of the sectarian parties. The OIL Production Company, speaking on the
deadline for him to present his proposed sidelines of the company’s well production
government to parliament is 12 November. Russia can export gas to prediction meeting, Seyed Abulhasan
The notable dissenter is the Sadrist movement, Mohammadi underlined the realization
Iraq’s other main Shia group led by powerful Persian Gulf via Iran of 102% of the company’s production plan
cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. By refusing to join during the first half of the year, saying:
the new government, the Sadrists have laid Russia can export its gas via the Iranian “According to the assigned plan, the
the foundation for their role as the main territory to customers in the Persian Gulf production commitments of this company in

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