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Court case will shape Iraq's oil policy–and its politics
Anyone who wonders if the rule of law can ever take hold in Iraq should pay attention to the case of Mosawi vs Nouri al Maliki, now being heard in Baghdad Federal Court. The question to be decided is this: which entity in the Iraqi political spectrum–the prime minister, the oil minister, the 275-member parliament, the local governorates, or the Kurdish Regional Government–has the legal authority to contract with international oil companies to develop the nation's vast oil wealth.
At stake is arguably the fiscal future of Iraq and its effect on the world's supply of oil for the next 50 years. The case centres around the applicability of laws from the Saddam Hussein/Baath Party regime, namely whether an old law which has not been repealed or altered (Law 97 of 1967) requires federal oil tenders to be ratified by parliament. Iraq granted several such tenders to international oil companies in the first and second bidding rounds in 2009, and the validity of each one hinges upon the Mosawi decision.