Iraqi Federal Court Deems Kurdish Oil and Gas Law Unconstitutional

Iraqi technicians at work on oil fields. (AFP)
Iraqi technicians at work on oil fields. (AFP)
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Iraqi Federal Court Deems Kurdish Oil and Gas Law Unconstitutional

Iraqi technicians at work on oil fields. (AFP)
Iraqi technicians at work on oil fields. (AFP)

Iraq's federal court on Tuesday deemed an oil and gas law regulating the oil industry in Iraqi Kurdistan unconstitutional, according to a document seen by Reuters.

The Kurdish regional government (KRG) has been developing oil and gas resources independently of the federal government, and in 2007 enacted its own law that established the directives by which the region would administer these resources.

KRG crude is exported through a pipeline that runs from Iraq's Kirkuk region to the Turkish port of Ceyhan.

Tuesday's court decision stated that the Kurdish government in Erbil must hand over all crude from the KRG and neighboring areas to the federal government, represented by the oil ministry in Baghdad.

The ruling declared KRG oil contracts with oil companies, foreign parties and states invalid. This includes exploration, extraction, export and sale agreements, according to the document.

The ruling also stated that the oil ministry must be allowed to audit all agreements concluded by the KRG with oil and gas companies.

The KRG continues to export crude through Ceyhan, a shipping source told Reuters.

Buyers of KRG crude expect loadings to continue.

The KRG did not immediately respond to a request for comment.



Netanyahu: Israel Retains Right to Resume Gaza Fighting

FILED - 03 March 2020, Israel, Tel Aviv: Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, delivers an address. Photo: Ilia Yefimovich/dpa
FILED - 03 March 2020, Israel, Tel Aviv: Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, delivers an address. Photo: Ilia Yefimovich/dpa
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Netanyahu: Israel Retains Right to Resume Gaza Fighting

FILED - 03 March 2020, Israel, Tel Aviv: Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, delivers an address. Photo: Ilia Yefimovich/dpa
FILED - 03 March 2020, Israel, Tel Aviv: Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, delivers an address. Photo: Ilia Yefimovich/dpa

Israel retains the right to resume war in Gaza with US backing should the second stage of the ceasefire prove pointless, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday.

"If we must return to fighting we will do that in new, forceful ways," Netanyahu said in a video statement.

"President (Donald) Trump and President (Joe) Biden have given full backing to Israel's right to return to combat if Israel concludes that negotiations on Phase B are futile," he said.

The ceasefire between Hamas and Israel will go into effect Sunday at 8:30 a.m. local time (0630 GMT), mediator Qatar announced Saturday, as families of hostages held in Gaza braced for news of loved ones, Palestinians prepared to receive freed detainees and humanitarian groups rushed to set up a surge of aid.
The prime minister had warned earlier that a ceasefire wouldn’t go forward unless Israel received the names of hostages to be released, as had been agreed.

The pause in 15 months of war is a step toward ending the deadliest, most destructive fighting ever between Israel and the Hamas militant group — and comes more than a year after the only other ceasefire achieved. The deal was achieved under joint pressure from Trump and the outgoing administration of President Biden ahead of Monday's inauguration.
The first phase of the ceasefire will last 42 days, and negotiations on the far more difficult second phase are meant to begin just over two weeks in. After those six weeks, Israel’s security Cabinet will decide how to proceed.
Israeli airstrikes continued Saturday, and Gaza's Health Ministry said 23 bodies had been brought to hospitals over the past 24 hours.