Kurds approve regional oil law

Iraq's autonomous Kurdish government approved a regional oil law on Tuesday, officials said, paving the way for foreign investment in their northern oil and gas fields while U.S.-backed federal legislation remained stalled.

The measure gives the regional government the right to administer its oil wealth in the three northern governates — Irbil, Sulaimaniyah and Dahuk — as well as what it called "disputed territories," referring to Kirkuk, one of Iraq's largest crude production hubs.

Kurdish Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani signed the law Tuesday, calling it a "historic moment," a day after it was adopted by the regional parliament.

"This is the first time in Iraq's history that we have a say regarding our natural resources within the frame of the Iraqi constitution," he said at a news conference in Irbil, a city in the Kurdish-controlled north 350 kilometers (220 miles) north of Baghdad.

Read the rest at the International Herald Tribune

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