Al-Fatah: The smuggling of regional oil will not stop until the oil and gas law is passed

 Al-Fatah: The smuggling of regional oil will not stop until the oil and gas law is passed.

Ali al-Fatlawi, a leader in the Fatah Alliance, confirmed on Thursday that oil smuggling from the Kurdistan Region will continue unless the oil and gas law is passed. He called on the government and political forces to engage in serious dialogue to reach a final agreement on the law and resolve the accumulated disputes between Baghdad and Erbil.

Al-Fatlawi said in a statement to the Al-Maalouma Agency, “The time has come to give priority to the approval of the oil and gas law, especially after the vote to amend Paragraph (12) of the Federal Budget Law,” stressing that “the approval of the law is the best way to stop the smuggling of oil from the region.”

He added that "the continued smuggling of oil negatively impacts the national economy and causes significant losses to the public treasure," warning of the repercussions of these operations on the country's economic autonomy.

Al-Fatlawi called on political forces to "assume their national responsibilities and exert pressure to expedite the passage of the law by completing the draft and agreeing on its main provisions."

It is noteworthy that media reports indicated that approximately 400,000 barrels of oil are smuggled daily from the Kurdistan Region, in the absence of clear federal oversight and the unknown fate of the financial revenues resulting from these quantities.  link