While Congress drilled General Petraeus yesterday in an open session, Texas-based Hunt Oil became the first company to receive drilling rights in Iraq after the war. It’s a big win for the small Texas company — Iraq contains the third largest proven reserves in the world, behind Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Hunt, a privately owned oil company based in Dallas, should begin drilling in Kurdistan by 2008. Financial details have not been disclosed (despite the fact that the Kurdistan regional authority insists they’ve created a “transparent business environment“).
The central government in Baghdad has been trying to enact a national oil law, but has been delayed due to disputes over where the revenue will go. The regional authority of Kurdistan stepped in with its own law, but Baghdad insists that any company signed on under Kurdistan’s regional law is considered to be “lacking legitimacy.”
Oil Well in Bahrain image by Octal
