The Parliamentary Oil, Gas, and Natural Resources Committee announced today, Thursday, that the long-stalled draft oil and gas bill is still in the process of “writing its draft.” If the government completes the legislation, it is expected to be adopted during the current parliamentary session.
“The oil and gas law is still in the process of writing its draft, which is the first stage in the enactment of any law, as this law requires a comprehensive political consensus, as it is a sensitive law that requires in-depth study and discussion by political parties,” committee member Sabah Sobhi told Al-Sabah newspaper, which was followed by NRT Arabia.
“The law includes many dimensions, the most important of which is the economic dimension, which is the most important, because the enactment of this law leads to the structuring of the Iraqi economy,” Sobhi explained. “The second dimension is the legal dimension, because there is currently a legal vacuum with the existence of a constitutional article related to oil that requires the enactment of its own law.”
“As for the third dimension, it is political, because the issue of the oil commodity is very important from a political standpoint, as it is the main revenue on which the economy and the Iraqi state rely, because 90% of the country’s budget depends on oil imports, so we need to legislate this law, and another after that,” he added. Because oil is full of tactics from exploration to sale, we are in the midst of enacting an essential, difficult, sensitive, and tragic law for Iraq.
