Shafaq News- Kirkuk

Kurdish lawmakers from the multi-ethnic province of Kirkuk on Monday urged Iraq’s oil ministry to intervene over a “lack of balance and fairness” in the management of the state-owned North Oil Company (NOC).

At a news conference in parliament, MP Dilan Ghafoor rejected administrative practices she said excluded or discriminated against particular communities in the distribution of positions and responsibilities at NOC, one of Iraq’s key state-owned oil companies overseeing major fields and production facilities in Kirkuk and other northern provinces.

“If the matter is administrative and concerns the management of the company’s departments in a way that does not conform with the principles of balance, justice and equality in state institutions, then it is unacceptable and cannot be treated as a routine administrative measure,” Ghafoor said.

Kirkuk’s Kurdish representatives, according to Ghafoor, would pursue available legal, constitutional and parliamentary oversight mechanisms to challenge any administrative practices they consider exclusionary.

Other lawmakers called on Oil Minister Basim Mohammed Khudair Al-Abadi to halt the measure at issue and review the company’s administrative approach to ensure fair treatment and representation for all communities and employees.

The concerns follow a series of recent changes to senior positions in Kirkuk that have failed to provide fair representation for the province’s communities. In June, Iraq’s Oil Ministry removed NOC Director-General Amer Khalil Ahmed from his post and nominated Faisal Hummadi Al-Jubouri, also from Kirkuk’s Arab community, as his successor.

About Kirkuk

Kirkuk, home to nearly 1.9 million people according to the 2024 census, has Kurdish, Arab, Turkmen, Chaldean, Assyrian and other communities, and holds 13 parliamentary seats, including one for minorities and three for women. Its political status has long been disputed. Kurdish parties seek implementation of Article 140 of Iraq’s constitution, which provides for normalization, a census and a referendum to determine the status of Kirkuk and other disputed territories. Turkmen political groups regard the city as a historic center of their community, while Arab parties oppose its incorporation into the Kurdistan Region.

Read more: Discover Iraq: Kirkuk, a city of oil, culture, and conflict

The province has also repeatedly seen protests over employment in its oil sector. On Sept. 1, dozens of Kirkuk refinery workers demonstrated outside the Provincial Council headquarters demanding reinstatement after losing their jobs. The protesters said 610 workers affiliated with the North Refineries Company in Baiji were seeking reinstatement or inclusion in Iraq’s 2027 federal budget.