Green light: Iraq's cabinet has approved a draft law to establish a national oil company
Initial nod for Iraqi national oil company
Iraq's cabinet approved a draft law establishing a National Oil Company designed to help lift the country's struggling oil sector.
In a statement posted on Ali al-Dabbagh's website late yesterday, a government spokesman said the Iraqi cabinet had given its approval to the National Oil Company, which would be sent to the parliament for approval.
Iraq has been seeking to revive its oil sector, which boasts the world's third largest oil reserves, and overcome the effects of decades of sanctions, war and neglect.
The oil sector is the scene of a showdown between Arabs and minority Kurds, who want greater control of energy reserves and lay claim to land outside the current borders of their largely autonomous Kurdish region, reported Reuters.