Two key Iraq parties oppose oil law

BAGHDAD, March 13 (UPI) -- Two Iraqi political parties, including one of the former prime minister, said the draft hydrocarbons law should be tabled until the security situation improves.

"We believe that the time is not right for dealing with this issue. We should, above all, deal with security matters before debating this draft," said Hussein al-Falluji, a member of Parliament representing the Iraqi Accordance Front, a Sunni party.

"Socio-political and security circumstances do not allow such a step now, as the draft would allow investment companies to re-wield power over Iraqi oil," Falluji told the Voices of Iraq news agency.

After nearly a year of debate, negotiators from the central government and the Kurdistan Regional Government agreed to a tentative law governing the country's 115 billion barrels of proven reserves.

If approved, the law will outline control over oil development and how revenue is distributed. It has, however, been criticized for being too generous to private, foreign companies.

The Iraqi National Slate, the party of former Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, has also objected to the law.

The oil sector has been hampered in large part due to violence in Iraq, though the war, U.N. sanctions and mismanagement under Saddam Hussein are also contributing factors.