The semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has proposed a law to establish a fund to manage and invest revenues from oil and gas sales from its territories.

The KRG will invest the revenues to in regional projects and possibly into the KRG’s Natural Resources Ministry to help develop oil and gas, according to a 9 December statement from the KRG.

The fund will include payments from the central government in Baghdad. It will be managed by a six-member board, which will meet at least once a month.

They will be tasked with documenting total oil and gas revenues in the region, as well as auditing and reviewing transactions. Data from the fund will be disclosed annually to be audited by globally certified auditors. Periodic and annual reports will be filed to the Regional Council.

The fund’s accounts could be opened in the Iraqi Central Bank or a regional bank chosen by the council for the deposit of revenues.

Iraq made its first payment to the KRG for its contribution to oil exports through the northern pipeline to the Mediterranean in May. Baghdad transferred $243m to the KRG, which was used to pay expenses for international oil companies (IOCs) producing in the region (MEED 8:5:11).