dubai • Iraq’s pending new oil law does not mention production-sharing contracts and will guarantee that 80 per cent of oil reserves are managed by the Iraqi National Oil Company, the oil minister said in remarks published yesterday.

“There is no mention of production-sharing contracts,” Hussain Al Shahristani told the pan-Arab daily Al Hayat.

The state-owned Iraqi National Oil Company would control all fields other than those that are not now in production and which are a long way from production, he added.

“This means that 80 per cent of discovered Iraqi reserves will be set aside for the Iraqi National (Oil) Company, and this invalidates the claim that the law will pave the way for foreign companies to control Iraqi oil,” he said.

Arrangements for developing the other oilfields will depend on a Federal Oil and Gas Council, he said.

International companies are eyeing Iraq’s giant and largely underdeveloped oilfields. Iraq needs billions of dollars in foreign investment to boost oil output and rebuild its economy.

Shahristani was quoted in India as saying that the new law should be approved in two months. The legislation is crucial to regulating how wealth from Iraq’s oil reserves will be shared between its sectarian and ethnic groups.

He said that Iraq’s current production capacity ranges between 2.8 and 2.9 million barrels a day (bpd). “It is possible to boost this capacity as it is planned to 3 million barrels each day.”