EXCLUSIVE: Iraq to vote on amending Article 12 of Budget Law Sunday

Shafaq News/ The Iraqi Parliament will vote on Sunday on the government's proposal to amend Article 12 of the General Budget Law, the Parliamentary Finance Committee announced Saturday.

Notably, in June 2023, Parliament voted on the draft General Budget Law for the fiscal years 2023, 2024, and 2025. Article 12 of the draft law includes provisions for compensating the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) for the production and transportation costs of oil extraction in the Kurdistan Region.

Finance Committee member Jamal Kocher told Shafaq News, “The draft amendment to Article 12 includes two clauses: the first addresses the production and transportation costs of Kurdistan's oil, determined by the advisory body. The second stipulates that if the federal and Regional governments cannot agree on these costs, the Ministry of Oil will appoint an entity to determine them, and the cost of oil extraction will be calculated accordingly."

“Voting on the amendment will enable the government to submit the 2025 budget tables to Parliament for approval,” he added.

On Tuesday, the Finance Committee announced the resumption of meetings to discuss the amendment to Article 12. Committee member Hussein Mones stated that the Budget Law sets the extraction cost at $6 per barrel, while the government's amendment raises it to $16. The draft amendment would reportedly require the government to cover extraction costs for 400,000 barrels per day from the Region's oil fields, which will increase the budget deficit.