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MEOG Commentary MEOG
outstanding issues based on the constitution and to convene a joint committee next week to nego- tiate oil, the budget, the peshmerga forces and Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution, concerning a census in Kirkuk”, according to Al Monitor.
The funds have now been deposited in the central bank in Erbil, but SOMO is yet to receive any oil from Kurdish operations, and consid- ering the fractious relationship between the administrations, this is unlikely to be forgotten when the 2020 budget is drawn up.
As part of the 2018 and 2019 budgets, the KRG agreed to send 250,000 bpd to federal authorities in exchange for Baghdad paying civil servant salaries.
upheaval and controversy
Widely seen as a comparatively attractive envi- ronment for doing business in the region, Kurd- istan has been in the news for major political changes since the independence push.
Most recently, regional oil minister Ashti Hawrami was removed from his post and given an advisory role to the prime minister. Law- maker Sirwan Baban was quoted by Reuters on July 21 as saying that there remain “differences between the key political parties over who will succeedHawrami”.
In his new role, Hawrami will advise the PM on energy affairs and “help run the energy port- folio until a new minister is appointed”, Baban added.
He had headed up the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) since 2006, during which time he spearheaded Kurdistan’s development of the region’s oil and gas assets.
Hawrami is a member of the KRG’s Oil and Gas Council, which is the final decision-maker on strategy and contracts within the sector.
In June, the Barzani family tightened its
grip on power through Masrour’s appointment as Prime Minister and his cousin Nechirvan as President. While the pair now hold the offi- cial top spots in government, Masrour’s father Masoud remains kingpin.
Masoud Barzani resigned from office in late 2017 following his failed independence push, which saw Iraqi forces move in to take control of the key Kirkuk oilfields.
Tensions remain between the Barzani-run ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Talabani family’s Patriotic Union of Kurdis- tan (PUK).
The KDP’s Nechirvan won 68 votes from the 81 members present in the 111-seat chamber in late May, with the PUK and New Generation Movement having boycotted the election.
Meanwhile on June 11, Masoud, also nomi- nated by the KDP, was elected as prime minis- ter after winning 87 votes from the 97 MPs in attendance. The two Islamic parties Komal and the KIU abstained.
Erbil has sought to maintain its reputation of being unaffected by the scandalous corrup- tion which prevails throughout southern Iraq, though documents have come to light in recent years that suggest that such practices have merely beenkeptoutofthepubliceye.
In 2016, auditors revealed that around 28% of Kurdistan’s oil exports were ‘disappearing’ from official export channels, and Middle East Oil & Gas (MEOG) discovered that the proceeds were being deposited in a Northern Cypriot bank account belonging to the mistress of a senior KRG official.
Hawrami has come under fire in recent months, with Oilprice recently reporting that he is implicated in a high-level corruption case involving illicit payments for production licences.™
Week 47 27•November•2019 w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m P5