Shafaq News – Dhi Qar

In Iraq’s Dhi Qar province, two districts located beside major oil fields say they were inexplicably excluded from a newly approved $95 million package of petrodollar-funded social benefit projects.

Under Iraq's petrodollar law, oil-producing areas receive five percent of revenues from crude oil, refined products, or natural gas extracted within their borders to compensate for environmental and social costs of extraction and fund reconstruction and development.

“Areas listed in the schedule are farther away than us and less affected,” Al-Nasr District Mayor Azhar Moussa told Shafaq News, adding that his administration will file a memorandum to the Provincial Council and has already prepared health, education, water, and rural-road proposals for 2024 and 2025.

Dhi Qar receives between $30 million and $46 million annually in petrodollar allocations, according to Razzaq Al-Ali, the governor’s assistant for planning affairs. He said the current plan covers 2024, 2025, and 2026, and includes 87 projects in education, health, water, and roads, with a project ceiling of about $4 million to accelerate implementation.

Objections, he noted, stem from administrative units not being included in this round.

Al-Ali said Al-Nasr and Al-Dawaya districts are set for inclusion in 2026 due to the expected opening of a new oil field under their jurisdiction, adding that allocations could surpass $46 million once production begins.

Since Dhi Qar joined the petrodollar program in 2021, disputes over project distribution have repeatedly resurfaced, along with accusations of mismanagement and corruption. Protests have followed claims of favoritism, poor services, and rising unemployment in communities surrounding the oil sector.

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