Minister in Arbil over oil contracts

ARBIL / IraqiNews.com: The Iraqi minister of oil on Monday arrived in Arbil city to discuss oil contracts with senior government officials, according to a local source. “Minister Hussein al-Shahrestani arrived today in Arbil to take up the oil contracts signed by the regional government with foreign oil companies,” a foreign relations department official in the Kurdistan Regional Government Kurdistan RegionG), Fallah Mustafa, told IraqiNews.com. The official did not provide further details. The region had signed several contracts with foreign oil corporations despite the central government’s objection and ahead of the Iraqi parliament’s final endorsement of a new draft law on oil. Parliamentary debates on the draft oil and gas law were postponed more than once despite strong pressure from the United States on Iraqi parliamentary bloc leaders to accelerate a new law. SS (P) 1