Introduction

It will be recalled that article 54 of the KRG oil and gas law (No. 22) has two paragraphs, which provide that: (1) PSC-related agreements entered into by the KRG prior to the law's adoption must undergo review by the Regional Council to ensure consistency with the provisions of the new law; and (2) similarly dated authorizations and MOUs related to oil and gas are to be regarded as null and void. The first paragraph of the article also provides that Regional Council decisions about consistency of reviewed agreements are considered final. It was discussed previously that article 141 of the Iraqi Constitution declares that the KRG is vested with the authority to amend or annul contracts that it had entered into since 1992, as long as it is done consistently with other provisions of the Constitution. That article also declares all such KRG contracts not amended or annulled to be valid and fully in force.

Imagine an enterprise that had negotiated and successfully concluded sometime after 1992 – and most probably after Saddam Hussein's ouster in 2003, when the KRG was at much greater liberty to assert a more extensive form of civic autonomy – a contractual arrangement with the KRG concerning oil and gas situated in the Kurdistan Region.