KRG Ministry of Natural Resources

London, UK (mnr.krg.org) -  Dr Ashti Hawrami, the KRG’s Minister of Natural Resources, this week in London said that for the first time the federal Iraqi government is showing a genuine approach to finding a solution on oil disagreements.

Minister Hawrami was speaking at the launch of The Kurdistan Oil and Gas Year book 2014, a guide to Kurdistan’s hydrocarbons sector , at the Dorchester Hotel. At the launch of the book, which is produced by Wildcat Publishing, the KRG’s natural resources minister received the Oil Man of the Decade award, as nominated by oil company executives.

Dr Hawrami was referring to the recent agreement between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the Iraqi federal government, whereby in exchange for receiving its share of the budget and funding for the Peshmerga forces out of the federal defence budget, the KRG will sell 250,000 barrels of oil per day via SOMO (Iraq’s state oil marketing organisation).  Minister Hawrami welcomed the deal with the new Iraqi government led by Haidar Al-Abadi and his team.  

Several senior representatives of oil companies attended the book launch. Minister Hawrami said, “I thank the oil companies for trusting in the Kurdistan Region and our oil policy, and for contributing to where we are now.” He added, “This year when we faced ISIS, received another 1.25 million IDPs, and had our budget withheld by Baghdad, your presence was important.”

He added his hope that the Kurdistan Region can move away from relying on oil alone, citing the examples of Norway and Qatar, and develop agriculture, tourism and the industrial sector.

Mr Todd Kozel, the founder of Gulf Keystone Petroleum which has operations in Kurdistan, presented the minister with the Oil Man of the Decade award. He said, “One man has stood out and guided us every step of the way: Dr Hawrami.”

Gilles Valentin, Editor-in-Chief of the Oil and Gas Year book, said that 2014 was a remarkable year for the Kurdistan Region, from completing an export pipeline to facing attacks by ISIS.

The Oil and Gas Year publishing company donated a cheque for $100,000 to the Kurdistan Emergency Appeal, a UK-based initiative to provide aid to the 1.5 million people who are sheltering from ISIS. Gulf Keystone Petroleum donated two photographs to a silent auction, with the funds raised going to aid for IDPs in Kurdistan.