Book dossier

Oil and gas in the disputed Kurdish territories

by Rex J. Zedalis

"Much of Iraq's considerable oil and gas reserves are thought to lie in the areas of northern Iraq claimed by the Kurds. Some of this area is under the control of Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) but much of the oil and gas is in disputed territories. The question of authority over these oil and gas reserves is important not only to the international energy companies with negotiated agreements with the KRG for the exploitation of these resources, but also because the issue is a major factor in the relations between the central government in Baghdad and the KRG regional authorities undermining the prospect for a unified Iraq.This book examines the historical and contextual background to the oil and gas in the Kurdish territories placing particular emphasis on the reserves situated in the provinces disputed with the central government. The book examines the legal basis of the current dispute looking at the relevant legislation including the Iraqi federal constitution, the KRG's own constitution and extant contracts with international oil companies. It also considers the developing international law on traditional peoples and their claims to natural resources. The book connects the legal questions which form the basis of this dispute and considers the larger issues of access to natural resources, as well as the place of regional minorities in federal systems. The book offers a critical assessment of the existing law as well as current efforts to address the Kurdish oil and gas controversy, especially from the perspective of federal systems"-- "This book examines the historical and contextual background to the oil and gas resources in the Kurdish territories, placing particular emphasis on the reserves situated in the disputed provinces. The volume is singularly unique in focusing on an examination of the rules reflected in both the national and the regional constitutional, legislative, and contractual measures and documents relevant to the question of whether the central government in Baghdad or the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) in Erbil has a stronger claim to legal control over the oil and gas resources in the disputed Kurdish territories. As a subsidiary focus, the author also draws attention to how the basic thrust of the volume connects to broader jurisprudential issues regarding the nature and purpose of law, the matter of claims by native peoples to natural resources on traditional lands, and the place of regional minorities operating in a federal system. Since the law examined is domestic or municipal in origin, additional reference is made to the role that such law can play in the "bottom up" (as opposed to more conventional "top down") development of international law. The book's opening chapters provide a valuable contextual introduction, followed by a number of substantive chapters providing an analytical and critical assessment of the controlling legal rules. Written in a scholarly, yet accessible style, and covering matters of basic importance to academics, lawyers, political scientists, government representatives, and students of energy and natural resources, as well as those of developing legal structures, Oil and Gas in the Disputed Kurdish Territories is an essential addition to any collection"--