No Oil from Kurdistan Without Baghdad's Approval

Deputy prime minister Ahmed Chalabi said an agreement between a Norwegian oil company and the Kurdistan authorities to drill oil from (Iraqi Kurdistan) would not move forward without Baghdad's approval. Chalabi, who chairs the energy council and the governmental contracts committee, maintained that the oil would remain in the ground until Baghdad agrees to the contract. He emphasized that a law must be drafted to regulate how oil drilling and production in Iraq. Chalabi did not give a time frame for drafting such a law.