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Iraqi province calls for more oil ' autonomy '
Oil producing Iraqi provinces are pressing the government to grant them a say in the royalties generated by oil sales from oil fields in their areas.
Iraqi most prolific oil province is Basra which contributes nearly 90% to the countrys oil export volume.
Other southern provinces like Dhiqar and Missan have entered the country oil production landscape, churning out hundreds of thousands of barrels a day from gigantic fields holding massive reserves.
These provinces want the government to treat them like the Kurdish region, whose regional government receives up to 17% of the country income from oil sales besides the ability to develop oil fields and export oil on its own.
The Governor of Dhiqar Province Yahya Baqer is calling for the formation of a ' National Wealth Commission ' under which oil producing provinces will be given authority not only over development and striking contracts but also in collecting revenues.
"Currently relations between provinces and the Oil Ministry are not clear in the absence of a national oil law," an official statement quoted Baqer as saying.
The statement said Baqer has called for the formation of a national oil company in Dhiqar with the government providing the infrastructure.
According to Oil Ministry regulations any province with the ability to produce 100, 000 barrels of oil a day has the right to have its own national oil company.
So far there are three such companies in Iraq one in the north which administers the fields of Kirkuk and other areas and two in the south, one in Basra and one in Missan.
"There is no legal obstacle to the establishment of a national company in Dhiqar because the province currently produces up to 150, 000 barrels a day," the statement said.
The statement said Baqer, who made the remarks in a symposium organized by the Oil Ministry, blamed the ministry for the delay in constructing a refinery in his province.
Oil Minister Adel Mahdi who attended the symposium told the newspaper that his ministry has the construction of an oil refinery in Dhiqar as one of its top priorities.
But he said the setting up of "Dhiqar National Oil Company" though legally possible might take some time before it sees light.
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Oil producing Iraqi provinces are pressing the government to grant them a say in the royalties generated by oil sales from oil fields in their areas.
Iraqi most prolific oil province is Basra which contributes nearly 90% to the countrys oil export volume.
Other southern provinces like Dhiqar and Missan have entered the country oil production landscape, churning out hundreds of thousands of barrels a day from gigantic fields holding massive reserves.
These provinces want the government to treat them like the Kurdish region, whose regional government receives up to 17% of the country income from oil sales besides the ability to develop oil fields and export oil on its own.
The Governor of Dhiqar Province Yahya Baqer is calling for the formation of a ' National Wealth Commission ' under which oil producing provinces will be given authority not only over development and striking contracts but also in collecting revenues.
"Currently relations between provinces and the Oil Ministry are not clear in the absence of a national oil law," an official statement quoted Baqer as saying.
The statement said Baqer has called for the formation of a national oil company in Dhiqar with the government providing the infrastructure.
According to Oil Ministry regulations any province with the ability to produce 100, 000 barrels of oil a day has the right to have its own national oil company.
So far there are three such companies in Iraq one in the north which administers the fields of Kirkuk and other areas and two in the south, one in Basra and one in Missan.
"There is no legal obstacle to the establishment of a national company in Dhiqar because the province currently produces up to 150, 000 barrels a day," the statement said.
The statement said Baqer, who made the remarks in a symposium organized by the Oil Ministry, blamed the ministry for the delay in constructing a refinery in his province.
Oil Minister Adel Mahdi who attended the symposium told the newspaper that his ministry has the construction of an oil refinery in Dhiqar as one of its top priorities.
But he said the setting up of "Dhiqar National Oil Company" though legally possible might take some time before it sees light.
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