The central authorities in Baghdad and the government of the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan have reached an agreement to export oil from the region, located in northern Iraq, the Rudaw TV channel reported on Tuesday.
According to its information, the final agreement to resume the supply of oil from Iraqi Kurdistan was reached during talks between Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani and Head of the autonomous region's government Masrour Barzani, who visits Baghdad.
As the prime minister of the Kurdistan Region pointed out at a joint press conference, "the agreement reached is temporary, but all its main provisions will be reflected in the [Iraqi] budget and the oil and gas law." Barzani added that "the involvement of the head of the Iraqi government al-Sudani and the common commitment of the two sides to the agreements guarantees the fulfillment of the agreement" to resume oil supplies. According to him, "the agreement is in the interest of all Iraqis."
For his part, al-Sudani noted that the agreements with Erbil (the capital of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region) "are designed to solve the problems of all parties concerned." According to him, "the cessation of oil exports is a serious blow to the overall revenues of the country, and we must remove all obstacles to the resumption of oil supplies."
In recent days, intense negotiations have taken place between Baghdad and Erbil to reach an agreement on Iraqi Kurdistan's oil exports through the Turkish port of Ceyhan. In late March, Turkey temporarily stopped importing hydrocarbons from Iraqi Kurdistan after the International Court of Arbitration at the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris ordered Baghdad to pay compensation to Ankara as part of the proceedings concerning Iraqi oil exports. The arbitration process stems from Iraq's claims against Turkey that it allowed the Kurdish administration to export oil through the Turkish port of Ceyhan using a separate Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline that was put into operation in 2007. Iraq has appealed in court against the legality of the use of this pipeline, claiming that the action contradicts the law.
According to the information of the Iraqi sources, during the negotiations with Erbil on the resumption of oil export Baghdad insisted on the fact that the deals should be done only through the State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO), whereas previously the transportation of hydrocarbons produced in the region was controlled by the Kurdish autonomy authorities. Iraqi Kurdistan daily supplied 450 thousand barrels of oil extracted in the region, as well as in the northern fields near the city of Kirkuk.
GSV "Russia - Islamic world"
Photo: Kevin Casper/СС0
Based on materials from TASS