Kurdistan Region of Iraq is ready to sign an agreement with the federal government in Baghdad on a deal to increase oil exports if the latter guarantees it a monthly revenue of US$1bn, a spokesman for Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) said
Iraq’s federal government had stopped oil exports through the Kurdish pipeline to pressure the local authorities to resume talks about an oil revenue sharing agreement earlier this year. Iraq’s North Oil Company exported 150,000 bpd through the pipeline that connects to Ceyhan in Turkey. The pipeline also carries oil produced in Kurdistan Region of Iraq and sold independently from the federal government.
The KRG stopped delivering crude oil to the central government a year ago, a decision taken when Baghdad’s payment fell under US$400mn a month, according to KRG spokesman Safeen Dizayee.
Dizayee said, “If Baghdad comes and says ok, give me all the oil that you have and I will give you the 17 per cent as per the budget, which equals to US$1bn, I think, logically it should be the thing to accept,” he told Reuters. “Whether this oil goes to the international market or first to Baghdad and then to the market, it does not make any difference,” he added.
According to KRG official estimates, the autonomous region exported an average of 513,041 barrels in May this year through the pipeline to Turkey, generating about US$391mn, of which about US$75mn was paid to oil companies that produce the crude.
