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<DIV class=timestamp>May 3, 2007</DIV>
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<H1><NYT_HEADLINE type=" " version="1.0">Iraqi Blocs Opposed to Draft Oil Bill
</NYT_HEADLINE></H1><NYT_BYLINE type=" " version="1.0"></NYT_BYLINE>
<DIV class=byline>By <A title="More Articles by Edward Wong"
href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/w/edward_wong/index.html?inline=nyt-per">EDWARD
WONG</A> and <A title="More Articles by Sheryl Gay Stolberg"
href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/s/sheryl_gay_stolberg/index.html?inline=nyt-per">SHERYL
GAY STOLBERG</A></DIV><NYT_TEXT></NYT_TEXT>
<DIV id=articleBody>
<P>ERBIL, <A title="More news and information about Iraq."
href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/iraq/index.html?inline=nyt-geo">Iraq</A>,
May 2 — Kurdish and Sunni Arab officials expressed deep reservations on
Wednesday about the draft version of a national oil law and related legislation,
misgivings that could derail one of the benchmark measures of progress in Iraq
laid down by President Bush. </P>
<P>The draft law, which establishes a framework for the distribution of oil
revenues, was approved by the Iraqi cabinet in late February after months of
negotiations. The White House was hoping for quick passage to lay the groundwork
for a political settlement among the country’s ethnic and sectarian factions.
But the new Kurdish concerns have created doubts about the bill even before
Parliament is to pick it up for debate. </P>
<P>The issue comes at a delicate moment for Mr. Bush, who on Wednesday began
negotiations with Congressional Democrats over a new war-spending measure. </P>
<P>The president vetoed a $124 billion bill on Tuesday because it included
timetables for troop withdrawals, and a House vote on Wednesday fell short of
the two-thirds majority needed to override the veto, with 222 voting in favor
and 203 opposing the override. </P>
<P>In a speech to a construction industry trade group in Washington, Mr. Bush
said he was “confident that with good will on both sides, that we can move
beyond political statements” and agree on a new measure.</P>
<P>But he continued to criticize Congress for trying to use the bill to dictate
timelines for withdrawal.</P>
<P>“The question is, ‘Who ought to make that decision, the Congress or the
commanders?’ ” Mr. Bush said. “As you know, my position is clear — I’m the
commander guy.”</P>
<P>In Iraq, the Kurds have taken issue with a new provision that was quietly
packaged with the draft oil law by the Shiite-led Oil Ministry last month. The
measure would essentially cede control of the management of nearly all known oil
fields and related contracts to a state-run oil company to be established after
passage of the law, said a spokesman for the Kurdish regional government. </P>
<P>The spokesman, Khalid Salih, said the provision violated a clause in the
Constitution that says the central government must work with regional
governments to determine management of known fields that have not been
developed. The Kurds, who have enjoyed de facto independence in the north since
1991, have been arguing for maximum regional control over oil contracts.</P>
<P>The provision is part of four so-called annexes that are to be debated with
the draft oil law in Parliament. Any objection to one or more of the annexes
will stall passage of the law. </P>
<P>“We are worried about these ideas put into the annexes,” Mr. Salih said in an
interview in Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan. “It worries us a lot.” If
the law and the annexes go to a vote before Parliament, a rejection by the
Kurdish bloc alone, which holds 58 of 275 seats, would not doom the law. But
Parliament operates by consensus, and members say it is almost certain that no
law regarding oil will pass without the approval of the Kurds.</P>
<P>A senior Shiite Arab legislator, Sheik Jalaladin al-Saghir, said the concerns
raised by the Kurds amounted to a bargaining tactic. “I think it’s a maneuver,”
he said, adding that he believed the Kurds “will move forward to pass the law
since everybody needs it.”</P>
<P>Contributing a further layer of complication, a Sunni Arab legislator said
Wednesday evening that the main Sunni Arab bloc, which has 44 legislative seats,
objected to any discussion of the law in Parliament at this time. “Acceleration
in presenting it is inappropriate since the security condition is not
encouraging,” said the legislator, Saleem Abdullah. He said Sunni Arabs were
also worried that the law would give foreign companies too large a role in the
country’s oil industry. Sunni Arab political leaders supported cabinet approval
of the draft law, but appear ambivalent now.</P>
<P>White House officials have said passage of the oil law is one of four major
benchmarks they would like the Iraqi government to meet before fall.</P>
<P>During a visit to Baghdad last month, Defense Secretary <A
title="More articles about Robert M. Gates."
href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/g/robert_m_gates/index.html?inline=nyt-per">Robert
M. Gates</A> told the Iraqi prime minister, <A
title="More articles about Nuri Kamal al-Maliki."
href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/m/nuri_kamal_al-maliki/index.html?inline=nyt-per">Nuri
Kamal al-Maliki</A>, that Mr. Bush would weigh Iraq’s commitment to meeting the
goals when he decided at the end of the summer whether to extend the recent
troop increase. </P>
<P>Differences on benchmarks for the Iraqi government are a central issue in the
spending-bill talks between Mr. Bush and Democrats. Democrats, conceding they
are unable to use the bill to force the withdrawal of troops, hope to write new
benchmarks into the legislation, with consequences if the goals are not met.</P>
<P>Speaking to reporters after Wednesday’s meeting, Senator <A
title="More articles about Harry Reid."
href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/r/harry_reid/index.html?inline=nyt-per">Harry
Reid</A>, the Democratic leader, said Democrats were determined that the bill
would include “language in it that has the Iraqis take care of their own
country.” But the White House is likely to resist any attempt to punish the
Iraqis for failure to reach certain goals, and <A
title="More articles about Republican Party"
href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/r/republican_party/index.html?inline=nyt-org">Republicans</A>
say the president would consider benchmarks only if they are nonbinding. </P>
<P>“I think Republicans and the president are amenable to some benchmarks,” said
Senator <A title="More articles about Trent Lott."
href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/l/trent_lott/index.html?inline=nyt-per">Trent
Lott</A> of Mississippi, the No. 2 Republican, “provided that they don’t slop
over into trying to dictate to the commander in chief or the commanders on the
ground.”</P>
<P>The draft oil law provides for the distribution of revenues from all current
and future oil fields to regions or provinces based on population. That
agreement was meant to assuage the fears of the Sunnis, who suspect that the
Shiites and Kurds are conspiring to hoard oil wealth, which is concentrated in
the areas they dominate.</P>
<P>The minority Sunni Arabs are at the heart of the insurgency against the
Shiite-led government, and hold swaths of land in western and northern Iraq that
produce little oil, though geologists believe there are substantial untapped
reserves there. </P>
<P>The Sunnis have been pushing for centralized control of the oil industry to
assure equitable distribution of the revenues, while the Kurds have favored
strong regional control. The Shiites have fallen somewhere in between. </P>
<P>The Kurds held up cabinet approval of the draft law for months, seeking to
ensure that it guaranteed maximum regional autonomy to sign oil contracts. They
fear that the central government might steer exploration and development
contracts toward the Shiite-dominated south, at the expense of other
regions.</P>
<P>The Kurds recently discovered two fields in northern Iraq, after signing
contracts with a Norwegian and a Turkish company. But on Wednesday the Iraqi oil
minister, Hussain al-Shahristani, a Shiite, said at a conference in Saudi Arabia
that any contracts signed by the Kurds before passage of the oil law were
considered invalid and illegal, news agencies reported. </P>
<P>In Erbil, Mr. Salih, the Kurdish spokesman, said the Kurdish contracts were
legal and “had been prepared according to international standards and
norms.”</P>
<P>The draft law approved by the Iraqi cabinet says regions may enter into
contracts, but a powerful new central body called the Federal Oil and Gas
Council would have the power to “prevent” the contracts from going forward if
they did not meet certain standards. A panel of oil experts from inside and
outside Iraq would advise the federal council on the contracts.</P>
<P>Oil industry analysts estimate the country’s proven oil reserves at 115
billion barrels. Iraqi oil production peaked at 3.7 million barrels a day in
1979, according to the <A
title="More articles about the U.S. Energy Department."
href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/e/energy_department/index.html?inline=nyt-org">United
States Department of Energy</A>. Production stood at 2.6 million barrels a day
before the 2003 invasion, but has dropped since. Passage of the draft law is
seen as critical for encouraging the foreign investment needed to lift
production levels. </P>
<P>The draft oil law would allow regions to enter into production-sharing
agreements with foreign companies, which some Iraqis and critics of the Bush
administration say could lead to foreigners reaping too much of the country’s
oil wealth. </P>
<P>Iraqi officials say all contracts will be subjected to a fair bidding
process, but there are fears that American companies could be favored.</P>
<P>In March, Mr. Shahristani said at an industry conference in Austria that 27
fields currently producing oil would be managed by the Iraq National Oil
Company, which was shut down by <A title="More articles about Saddam Hussein."
href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/h/saddam_hussein/index.html?inline=nyt-per">Saddam
Hussein</A> in 1987 but would be re-established once the draft oil law was
passed. Another 65 known fields would be offered for exploration and development
contracts through rounds of bidding. </P><NYT_AUTHOR_ID></NYT_AUTHOR_ID>
<DIV id=authorId>
<P>Edward Wong reported from Erbil, and Sheryl Gay Stolberg from Washington.
Khalid al-Ansary contributed reporting from Baghdad, and Jeff Zeleny from
Washington.</P></DIV></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>