[R-G] Canadian firm prospecting for Iraqi oil without official approval

[Anthony Fenton]

UIC: Official Canadian firm prospecting for oil without official  
approval

A legislator from the Shiite Unified Iraqi Coalition (UIC) accused on  
Saturday the Iraq Kurdistan region government of trespassing on the  
administrative frontiers of the Ninewa province by granting an oil  
prospecting concession to a Canadian company.

"There is a Canadian company called Trsais in al-Shaykhan area, (50  
km) northeast of Mosul, where it is prospecting for oil in the  
district of Talkif, northern Mosul, and already dug an exploratory  
well without prior official approval from the Iraqi government,"  
Osama al-Najefi told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).

Al-Nejefi pointed out that the Iraqi Kurdistan region's government  
has granted the Canadian company a concession to dig for oil in areas  
that do not administratively belong to it.

"This is flagrant violation of the Iraqi law and encroachment by the  
government of Iraqi Kurdistan on the province of Ninewa," said al- 
Nejefi, whose UIC is the largest bloc in the Iraqi parliament with 83  
out of a total 275 seats.

A crisis broke out recently between the central government and the  
autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan region's government after the latter  
concluded oil contracts with foreign companies without prior referral  
to the government in Baghdad.

An official source in the district of Talkif said "a Canadian firm  
was working in the area to prospect for oil," adding "a Norwegian  
company called DNO did this three months ago."

There are several areas lying on the administrative frontiers between  
the provinces of Ninewa, Arbil and Duhuk which the Iraqi Kurdistan  
government calls for annexing to the region. The issue is set to be  
addressed by article 140 of the Iraqi constitution, a bone of  
contention among political leaders.