The Legal Dimensions of Oil and Gas in Iraq

Rex J. Zedalis is a member of the faculty at the University of Tulsa, College of Law, where he has received numerous awards for his outstanding teaching, including an award in 2004 for the university's most outstanding professor. He has also been recognized for his extensive publication record in both US and European international law journals. He has served as Director of the Comparative and International Law Center (CILC) at the University of Tulsa and as a Fellow with, and a former Assistant Director of, the College of Law's National Energy Law and Policy Institute. Professor Zedalis has also acted as a consultant to international organizations, foreign governments, and domestic as well as international law firms during his nearly thirty-five-year career.

Part I. The Contextual Background: 1. The facts regarding Iraqi oil and gas reserves and their legal status prior to self-governance; 2. The provisions of the Iraqi constitution addressing oil and gas activities: of the role of sub-central governing entities, handling of revenues, and 'present' v. 'future' fields; Part II. The Complications Associated with Iraqi Legislative Measures: 3. The federal oil and gas framework law and sub-central government responses; 4. A primer on the federal model production sharing agreement and the Kurdistan regional government's model production sharing contract; 5. The federal oil and gas revenue sharing law - its many problems; 6. Measures to reorganize the Iraq National Oil Company (INOC) and the ministry of oil; 7. The matter of creditor claims: an examination of United Nations' Security Council Resolution 1790 (18 Dec. 2007) and its predecessors; 8. Central government authority to strike oil and gas development agreements in the absence of a federal framework law; 9. Distributing profits in the absence of a federal revenue sharing law; 10. Changing the mix: transition fails and the face of Iraq is altered.