Al-Sharqiyah TV Interviews Iraqi Oil Minister on “Corruption”

Dubai Al-Sharqiyah Television in Arabic at 1113 gmt on 4 November carries within its “Dialogue” talk show a 27-minute recorded interview with Iraqi Oil Minister Husayn al-Shahristani by an unidentified anchor.

Asked to comment on calls by the head of the Parliamentary Integrity Commission for deposing him from his position due to “the wide-spread corruption” in the Ministry of Oil, Al-Shahristani says: “This is very old news because the man came to offer his apology and the Integrity Commission came to offer its apology.”

The anchor interrupts by saying that this call was made yesterday by Sabah al-Sa’idi, head of the Integrity Commission at the Council of Representatives. Al-Shahristani says: “His position is strange because an Integrity Commission delegation came to me a few days ago, offered their apology, and said that the man represents himself only and that his statements are politicized more than being related to integrity issues.” He adds: “There was corruption in the Oil Ministry and most of the corruption cases took place when people like him [Al-Sa'idi] were influential inside the Oil Ministry.”

Asked about who he is referring to, Al-Shahristani says: “I mean the head of the Integrity Commission at the Council of Representatives, and his relatives and brothers,” adding: “We have disclosed their corruption cases. We prevented them and prevented him personally from intervening in many affairs concerning the ministry. I believe that this stance is personal and political but not based on integrity issues.”

Regarding the reasons behind this personal stand, Al-Shahristani says: “It is a political stand because he represents a group which sees that it has lost much after being denied contracts they were benefiting from.” He adds that he does not deny the existence of any corruption in all Iraqi Government branches, saying that he needs specific information about corruption cases so that he can refer them to the Integrity Commission, and that he managed to put an end to many corruption cases in the Oil Ministry.

Asked to give examples of corruption cases he managed to deal with, Al-Shahristani says: “There were many cases. For example, the general director of the [Oil] distribution company was collaborating with people like this man [Al-Sa'idi], and had a private company that had contracts with the distribution company to buy oil for example. I deposed the director and immediately terminated all these illegal contracts.” Al-Shahristani says that there are individual cases of corruption in the ministry, like some employees’ acceptance of bribes to pass contracts, noting that when such people are discovered they are fired and the contracts are terminated.

Asked whether the Kurdish Peshmerga is responsible for the protection of Kirkuk oil wells, Al-Shahristani says that the Oil Installations Protection Force affiliated with the Oil Ministry is in charge of this task. He adds that any Iraqi citizen can volunteer to join this force. Al-Shahristani says that there are military units affiliated with the Iraqi Defence Ministry protecting oil installations, especially in Bayji and the oil pipeline between Kirkuk and Bayji.

Asked whether the frequent explosions targeting oil pipelines are due to lack of protection, Al-Shahristani says that oil pipelines explosions are carried out by groups affiliated with Al-Qai’da, or by some sides for political reasons. He adds that in the last three months and after the tribes began to cooperate with the ministry, the explosions dropped significantly and that Iraq now exports 300,000 barrels per day via the northern pipeline.

Commenting on reports by the Iraqi Financial Audit Bureau and foreign organizations that Iraq loses 20,000 oil barrels per day, Al- Shahristani says that the Financial Audit Bureau is an official Iraqi authority while the foreign reports are “unreal” and “politicized,” adding: “I did not receive any report from the Iraqi Financial Audit Bureau on how they discovered that 20,000 barrels of oil are lost every day. If they have information about such losses, I will deal with this issue in a serious and decisive way.” Al- Shahristani says that this loss might result from oil leakage caused by pipeline explosions, adding that if the Financial Audit Bureau has something else, then the ministry is ready to cooperate in this regard. He says that the Bureau holds weekly meetings with the ministry in which they can discuss everything.

Asked about accusations by oil experts that Iran steals Iraqi oil from Majnun Oilfield and other fields, and how the Oil Ministry protects these fields, Al-Shahristani says: “There is not a single oil expert, who is worthy of his title, who can make such claim.” It is the politicians who make such claims, and not oil experts.” He describes such claims as “lies and political accusations.” Al- Shahristani clarifies that Iraq is currently negotiating with Iran to sell crude oil to Abadan Oil Refinery at the current world prices as a step to find alternative markets.

Replying to a question on whether he is confident that Iran is not stealing Iraqi oil, Al-Shahristani says that he knows exactly what is being produced out of the oilfields and how much is being sold. He confirms that there are people who steal oil byproducts and sell them in the black market.

Asked about the companies that buy Iraqi crude oil, Al- Shahristani says that all the information pertaining to the production and sale of crude oil will be published in the Iraqi newspapers and in the Internet. He says that this information will also include the rates and revenues. He adds that Iraq will be the first among the OPEC countries to publish this information on a monthly basis.

Asked about the companies that have priority in buying Iraqi crude oil, Al-Shahristani says that in the past, a third of the Iraqi crude oil was sold to the Asian market, a third to the European market, and a third to the American market, including Brazil and Mexico. Al-Shahristani adds: “The situation has changed now. Our exports to the American market are at their lowest level. Even during the era of Saddam, Iraq used to export more oil to the US market than it does now. This is not because of a political stand against the United States. Rather it is because the revenues of selling oil to Asia are much higher. That is why we have reduced exports to the US and European markets and increased our exports to the Asian market, whose revenues are better.”

Asked on how the increase of oil prices in world markets will affect Iraq, Al-Shahristani says that “any increase in the world market prices is reflected automatically on the prices of Iraqi oil.”

Asked on how Iraqi citizens will benefit from the increase in oil prices, Al-Shahristani says that all Oil revenues are deposited in the DFI [preceding acronym in English], Development Fund for Iraq, and the government uses these revenues to finance its development plans.

Replying to a question on the draft oil law and protests to this law, Al-Shahristani says: “I did not hear anyone saying that the oil law will partition Iraq. On the contrary, the most important advantage of the law is that it unifies Iraq’s oil policy, and obliges all areas to adhere to it.” He adds: “This law does not allow any region or governorate to conclude oil contracts as they wish. These contracts should be endorsed by a single federal council headed by the Iraqi prime minister, central government ministries, and the concerned ministries, which should endorse these contracts. More importantly, the revenues of these contracts will be deposited in the DFI.”

Asked on how the issue of Kurdistan oil contracts will be dealt with, Al-Shahristani says: “The stand of the Ministry of Oil is clear. We stated that these contracts are illegal, contradict the oil and gas law, and that no one has the right to exploit Iraq’s natural resources, such as oil and gas. The Constitution clearly states that oil and gas are the property of all Iraqis. No portion of the people can use the natural resources, which are a common property. No such contracts should be concluded. Iraqi oil from any area cannot be exported except through the Ministry of Oil and the National Oil Marketing Company. Oil revenues should be deposited in the DFI. These revenues cannot be spent in other ways.”

Asked whether the Oil Ministry will take measures regarding these contracts, Al-Shahristani says: “We warned companies against using the Iraqi oil in anyway. We do not think that anyone can export any amount of Iraqi oil without the approval of the Iraqi Government.”

Regarding whether the ministry has authority over the oil exporting terminals in the south, Al-Shahristani says: “The ministry does not only have authority, but also owns these terminals, which are under our full control. There is no one there except the employees of the Oil Ministry.” He reiterates that the terminals are under the control of the Iraqi authorities, noting that the ministry installed meters for oil exports and it is currently rehabilitating the (Al-Umariyah) terminal in order to export crude oil.

Asked about the situation of joint oilfields between Iraqi and Kuwait, the minister says that Iraq has joint oilfields with Iran, Syria, Kuwait, and Turkey, and there are international agreements called “Unitization Agreements” which specify the oilfield, the amount of oil in the territories of each country, and the mechanism according to which each country can benefit from those oilfields. He adds that there is an “initial understanding” with Kuwait to sign an agreement on the exploitation of the joint oilfields.

Responding to a question on Iraqi citizens’ suffering as a result of the lack of oil byproducts, Al-Shahristani says that most of the families have received their first share of kerosene in the southern cities, Salah-al-Din, Kirkuk, and Mosul. He adds that “electricity is now more available than it was one or two months ago.” Al- Shahristani addresses the Iraqi people saying that the oil shares for each Iraqi family were distributed, and that those who did not receive their shares should go to their municipal councils.

Asked about the value of Iraq’s imports of oil byproducts, Al- Shahristani says that there is no allocation in the budget for importing oil byproducts in 2007, while it was $6 billion in 2005 and $2.5 billion in 2006.

Originally published by Al-Sharqiyah TV, Dubai, in Arabic 1113 4 Nov 07.

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