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### Viewing cable 07BAGHDAD3071, HUNT OIL SIGNS AGREEMENT WITH KRG UNDER KRG OIL LAW

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Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
07BAGHDAD3071 | 2007-09-12 06:02 | 2011-06-26 00:00 | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | Embassy Baghdad
Appears in these articles: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/05/16/114269/wikileaks-cables-show-oil-a-major.html

`

    VZCZCXRO4961
    PP RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
    DE RUEHGB #3071/01 2550602
    ZNR UUUUU ZZH
    P 120602Z SEP 07
    FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
    TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3336
    INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE

` `

    UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 003071

    SIPDIS

    SENSITIVE
    SIPDIS

    E.O. 12958: N/A
    TAGS: EPET EINV ENRG IZ
    SUBJECT: HUNT OIL SIGNS AGREEMENT WITH KRG UNDER KRG OIL LAW

    SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED. NOT FOR INTERNET DISRIBUTION. PROTECT
    SOURCES.

    This is a Kurdistan Regional Reconstruction Team (RRT) cable.

    SUMMARY
    -------

    ¶1. (SBU)  The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) recently signed a
    production sharing contract (PSC) with Hunt Oil Company that covers
    oil exploration and production in "the Dohuk area."  Comments by
    Hunt officials indicate that the block is actually in the Ninewa
    Governorate's northern administrative districts.  The PSC marks the
    first oil deal signed by the KRG, following enactment of the
    Kurdistan Region's hydrocarbons law on August 6, 2007.  Considerable
    legal ambiguity surrounds the PSC with Hunt Oil, as the districts in
    northern Ninewa to be explored by the company are classified as
    "disputed territories" under the Iraqi constitution.  A senior Hunt
    Oil manager told RRT Erbil's Team Leader that northern Ninewa
    province has significant potential for oil production, and that this
    factor trumps the legal ambiguities and risks associated with the
    company's PSC with the KRG.  The oil potential of northern Iraq
    continues to attract significant investor interest.  Several other
    international energy companies are expected to announce oil deals
    with the KRG during coming weeks.  Despite the KRG's aggressive
    pursuit of foreign direct investment to develop the Kurdistan
    Region's hydrocarbons production potential, KRG Prime Minister
    Nechirvan reiterated the KRG's commitment to the federal hydrocarbon
    revenue sharing agreement that allocates Iraq's oil wealth to all
    Iraqis on a per capita basis.  Meanwhile, senior central government
    officials expressed their dismay that the KRG enacted a regional
    hydrocarbons law, and that the KRG continues to pursue oil
    investment from foreign companies in advance of enactment of
    comprehensive national hydrocarbons legislation. [NOTE: The ability
    of regional governments to sign contracts has been among the key
    issues of contention during negotiation of the national hydrocarbon
    law. The KRG has reluctantly agreed, at times. to refrain from
    finalizing agreements in advance of a national law, but have
    maintained that they would not wait indefinitely for national
    legislation to be approved by the Council of Representatives. END
    NOTE.]

    KRG Contract with Hunt in Disputed Territory
    --------------------------------------------

    ¶2. (SBU) On September 8, 2007, the KRG, Hunt Oil Company, and
    Impulse Energy Corporation (IEC) jointly announced they had signed a
    PSC covering petroleum exploration activities "in the Dohuk area of
    the Kurdistan Region."  Hunt Oil's General Manager for Europe,
    Africa and the Middle East, David McDonald, told RRT Erbil's Team
    Leader on September 5 that the envisioned "Dohuk area" of operations
    under the PSC consists of the administrative districts of northern
    Ninewa province.  McDonald did not disclose the exact areas in
    northern Ninewa to be initially targeted for exploration by Hunt Oil
    but he mentioned Shekkan and Akra as areas they had visited.  While
    the land to be explored by Hunt Oil has been behind the Green Line
    of KRG control for many years and is occupied by a majority Kurdish
    population who considers itself part of Dohuk Governorate, the area
    falls within the legal boundaries of Ninewa province.  Northern
    Ninewa is "disputed territory," according to the Iraqi federal
    constitution, and the legal boundaries of the area are eventually to
    be decided by a public referendum pursuant to Article 140 of the
    federal constitution.

    ¶3. (SBU) During discussions with RRT Erbil's Team Leader, McDonald
    seemed less than fully informed about the potential ramifications of
    Article 140 on Hunt Oil's negotiations with the KRG.  He did not
    express concern about the potential controversy surrounding
    signature of a PSC with the KRG that covers areas of operation
    currently outside the KRG's legal control.  He said, "This is a
    significant opportunity that outweighs the legal ambiguity."  Hunt
    Oil CEO Ray Hunt also discounted the fact that the northern Ninewa
    districts targeted under the PSC are not yet within the KRG's
    legally defined borders.  He expressed satisfaction on September 8
    that his company was "actively participating in the establishment of
    the petroleum industry in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq."

    ¶4. (U) Enactment of the KRG's new oil law may have spurred
    completion of the PSC with Hunt Oil.  The PSC was announced shortly
    after publication of the English translation of the new oil and gas
    law on the KRG's website.  Before the law was enacted, only one PSC
    had been signed for the Dohuk area - with DNO of Norway.  That PSC
    covered operations only within the legal boundaries of Dohuk
    Governorate.  Enactment of the KRG oil law and the subsequent
    announcement of the deal with Hunt Oil may accelerate the signing of
    PSCs with other international oil companies.   Several are
    reportedly on the verge of signing PSCs with the KRG during coming
    weeks.  Article 19 of the KRG law states that "the Federal
    Government must not practice any new Petroleum Operations in the
    disputed territories without the approval of [the KRG] until such
    time as the referendum required by Article 140 of the Federal
    Constitution is conducted."  Article 20, however, allows the KRG to
    sign PSCs with foreign oil companies in disputed territories, based
    on articles 112, 115 and 121(3) of the Federal Constitution.

    Potential Bonanza Trumps Legal Ambiguity
    ----------------------------------------

    ¶5. (SBU) While McDonald said Hunt Oil must conduct further
    assessments about the speed and scope of their operational
    activities in northern Ninewa, with decisions regarding the focus of
    initial seismic tests to begin "by the end of October," he was
    optimistic about the oil potential of the region.  McDonald said
    portions of the topography in all three districts of northern Ninewa
    bode well for oil exploration.  He said, "It's like shooting fish in
    a barrel."  A Hunt Oil company spokesman in Dallas said the company
    will begin geological survey and seismic work by the end of 2007,
    with plans to be in a position to drill an exploration well in
    ¶2008.

    KRG Boldly Enacts Regional Hydrocarbons Law...
    ---------------------------------------------

    ¶6. (U) The KRG deal with Hunt Oil marks the first PSC signed with a
    foreign oil company following KRG enactment of the Oil and Gas Law
    of the Kurdistan Region on August 6, 2007.   Speaking of the KRG's
    rationale in passing a controversial regional hydrocarbons law while
    a draft national oil and gas law remains intensely debated, KRG
    Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani told reporters on August 7,
    "Successive governments in Iraq have deliberately left our oil in
    the ground as an effort to keep our people [ethnic Kurds] poor and
    to deny our aspirations for a better way of life.  Today, with the
    passage of this new Kurdistan Law in a federal Iraq, we know that
    those days are gone."

    ¶7. (U) While espousing the benefits of foreign direct investment in
    the Kurdistan Region's oil producing areas, Nechirvan acknowledged
    federal constitution provisions that require any oil revenues
    generated under the KRG's hydrocarbons law to be shared equally with
    all Iraqis.  He confirmed the KRG intends to limit itself to its
    constitutionally mandated share of national oil revenues, regardless
    of whether the oil is sourced inside or outside the Kurdistan
    Region.  He said, "We will receive 17 percent of all revenues from
    all oil production in all of Iraq."

    ¶8. (U) KRG Minister of Natural Resources Ashti Hawrami echoed those
    comments.  Hawrami said on September 9, "We believe that the [KRG's]
    production-sharing agreements are the best way to move swiftly
    forward and help not just the Kurds but all Iraqis."   He envisions
    that the Kurdistan Region will produce one million barrels of oil
    per day within five years.  To achieve this goal, the KRG intends to
    sign PSCs with other large international oil companies.  On
    September 9, Hawrami told Dow Jones, "I think we'll be having an
    announcement with a blue-chip company soon."

    While Criticizing Central Government Paralysis
    --------------------------------------------- -

    ¶9. (SBU) Following passage of the KRG hydrocarbons law, KRG
    officials recommitted themselves to the February 2007 national
    hydrocarbons framework agreement.  Nechirvan told RRT Erbil's Team
    Leader on August 28 that he hoped the new KRG law "would spur
    movment in Baghdad" to enact a national hydrocarbons law.  During
    that meeting, however, Nechirvan expressed disappointment with
    political developments in Baghdad and pessimism about "whether the
    Sunnis and the Shi'a want to live together." He said the KRG does
    not want Iraq's central government to "hold up development of
    regional resources for another ten years."

    Arab Leaders Critical of KRG Oil Law
    ------------------------------------

    ¶10. (U) Senior central government officials in Baghdad condemned the
    oil deals signed by the KRG in advance of enactment of national
    hydrocarbons legislation.  Abdul Hadi al Hasani, Deputy Chairman of
    the national parliament's Energy Committee, said recently that such
    contracts may be overturned by the federal government, though he
    conceded that such a move could discourage potential foreign
    investments in Iraq's oil sector.  Sami al Askari, a parliamentarian
    and senior advisor to Prime Minister al Maliki, told reporters on
    September 7 that a federal oil and gas council to be formed under
    the national hydrocarbons law could decide whether to rescind the
    KRG's handful of oil contracts with foreign investors.  In a
    concession to the reality that foreign direct investment in Iraq's
    oil infrastructure remains both valuable and scarce, the
    parliamentarians said the private firms that signed deals with the
    KRG should not be blocked from winning future oil contracts in
    Iraq.

    COMMENT

    ¶11. (SBU) USG policy has discouraged companies from signing oil
    deals with the KRG until Iraq enacts its national hydrocarbon
    framework law, as such regional contracts could act as an impediment
    to negotiations toward a comprehensive national settlement that
    equitably distributes Iraq's oil wealth.  Such contracts also remain
    subject to significant legal ambiguity.  This has not deterred Hunt
    Oil and the other handful of companies that have signed PSCs with
    the KRG.  Their concerns about the nebulous political environment
    and possible eventual dissolution of their PSCs have been overridden
    by the prospect of huge profits - from getting first access to the
    choicest oil exploration fields in northern Iraq, and from
    establishing productive relationships with key KRG and central
    government officials.  The potential pitfalls are especially acute
    in cases (e.g. Hunt Oil and its junior partner IEC) where investors
    will commence operations in disputed territories.  It remains
    doubtful that the KRG was legally entitled to enter into a binding
    contract with Hunt Oil that covers oil exploration and eventual
    hydrocarbons production in an area (i.e. northern Ninewa province)
    that the KRG does not legally control.  Legal considerations aside,
    the KRG's actions complicates enactment of a national hydrocarbons
    law.
    BUTENIS

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