After a long period on the back burner, the new oil bill reappeared in Parliament shortly before the end of October, although it was an extremely timid appearance since the parliamentary oil and gas committee almost immediately sent the document back to the Cabinet. The game of ping-pong has thus resumed between the federal government and the Council of Representatives (Parliament), while various Iraqi sources, including within the Kurdish community, had thought the law now had a good chance of being passed. Once again, the ultra-sensitive nature of the subject within the context of Iraq's internal situation has got the better of the hopes expressed by several local politicians and certain observers. Four different versions of the oil bill have been drafted since early 2007, but none has found favor with all the communities represented in Parliament. To complicate matters further, the Cabinet itself is very divided on this piece of planned legislation, which is of key importance for the future of Iraq.
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