BAGHDAD (AFP) — Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani is expected to be summoned before parliament soon to face a grilling for failing to boost crude exports from the oil-rich nation, MPs said on Tuesday.
Lawmakers have gathered 140 signatures, more than enough for Shahristani to be called before the assembly to answer questions about the ministry he has headed for the last three years.
If MPs are dissatisfied with the minister's explanations, a no-confidence motion could follow -- and he could potentially be fired by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.
"The reason is that he has performed badly and parliament wants to ask questions and hear what the minister has to say," Mahmoud Othman, a Kurdish MP, told AFP.
"There could be a motion of no-confidence and this demand will be presented to the premier who will take a decision on what to do."
Ezzedine Al-Dawlah, a Sunni Arab MP in the largest Sunni bloc the National Concord Front, confirmed the plans but could not say when Shahristani would go before lawmakers.
The summons comes at an especially sensitive time. Iraqi Trade Minister Abdel Falah al-Sudani stepped down on May 14 amid allegations of corruption and embezzlement linked to the nation's food assistance programme.
His resignation was accepted by Maliki on Monday after lawmakers began to prepare a no-confidence motion.
Allegations of graft have also surrounded Shahristani although oil ministry spokesman Assem Jihad insisted that parliament was only interested in understanding oil production.
"The summons is not related to corruption, but to examine production rates." Jihad told AFP.
"We hope that the questions will focus on professional matters and not politics or the settling of old scores," he added.
During his tenure, Shahristani has failed to increase production above 2.2 million barrels per day and taken only tentative steps toward drumming up foreign investment.
The summons could also complicate Iraq's expected announcement later this month of its first licensing agreements in decades awarded to a slew of awaiting foreign firms.
Iraq has said it aims to pump six million barrels per day within the next four to five years but in reality progress to tap its massive reserves has been hamstrung by a dispute over oil-rights between Baghdad and the Kurd region.
A proposed national oil law is still stalled in parliament after three years.
Earlier this month the Kurdish autonomous region ramped up pressure on Baghdad to be allowed to export their oil and gas in their bid to better control their own energy resources.
Oil prices have dropped from a peak of 147 dollars a barrel in July and are now fluctuating at around 60 dollars, putting huge pressure on Iraq's budget which derives 90 percent of its revenues from the energy sector.
With the consent of Baghdad, Ashti Hawrami, the Kurd region's natural resources minister, announced earlier this month that it would begin exporting crude oil for the first time on June 1.
Revenues from the initial exports of 60,000 barrels a day from Tawke field and another 40,000 from the Taq Taq field later in June will be paid into Iraq's federal account and then redistributed to the provinces, as Baghdad wants.
The Kurd region will receive 17 percent of revenues from the exports but key questions remain over who will pay the foreign firms developing the fields.
Turkey's Genel Energy and Calgary-based Addax Petroleum which jointly operate Taq Taq and Norwegian oil firm DNO working in Tawke have production sharing agreements, which Baghdad remains vigorously opposed to.
"Our position is the same about the contracts in the Kurdish region," said an oil ministry official who requested he not be named due to sensitivity of the issue.
"The minister himself said a few days ago that the oil ministry is responsible for all contracts," he said.
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