Iraq's federal government and Iraqi Kurdistan authorities have agreed to resolve disputed issues related to the oil and gas law in accordance with provisions of the country's constitution, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Al-Sudani's office said on Wednesday
CAIRO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th January, 2023) Iraq's federal government and Iraqi Kurdistan authorities have agreed to resolve disputed issues related to the oil and gas law in accordance with provisions of the country's constitution, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Al-Sudani's office said on Wednesday.
Earlier in the day, a regional government delegation led by Kurdish Prime Minister Masrour Barzani visited Baghdad to discuss sensitive issues between the regional and federal authorities.
"The meeting ... focused on discussing the outstanding issues between Baghdad and Erbil, especially with regard to the Oil and Gas Law, emphasizing that these issues must be resolved according to the provisions stipulated in the constitution," the press office said in a statement.
The meeting participants also discussed in detail the law on the federal state budget for 2023 and "the need to resolve it to facilitate the implementation of strategic plans, programs, and projects in the fields of public services, economy, investment, and other sectors," the statement read.
For several years, there was an agreement between Iraqi Kurdistan and Baghdad under which Erbil transferred 250,000 barrels of oil to Baghdad daily and received 17% of the profit from its sale in return. However, both sides later accused each other of failing to comply with the deal. Erbil said Baghdad was not transferring the money in full and on time. Baghdad, in turn, claimed that Erbil was selling most of the oil abroad on its own in violation of the agreement.
In February 2022, the Iraqi Federal Supreme Court deemed the Kurdistan oil and gas law unconstitutional, and ordered that Erbil bring oil exploration, production and export under the control of the Iraqi federal government. The court also authorized the Iraqi Oil Ministry to challenge the legality of oil contracts concluded by the Iraqi Kurdistan government with foreign partners.
In response to this, Iraqi Kurdistan President Nechirvan Barzani called for a review of the court's decision so that "the constitutional and lawful rights of the Kurdistan Region are not violated." At the same time, Iraqi President Barham Salih called on the parliament to urgently begin discussing the postponed oil and gas bill to make the necessary changes or submit a new bill to pass it as soon as possible.
After the court ruling, three US oil and gas service companies, namely Schlumberger, Baker Hughes and Halliburton, officially notified the Iraqi Oil Ministry that they would cease operations in Iraqi Kurdistan.
Iraqi Kurdistan is an autonomous region in Iraq comprising the four Kurdish-majority governorates of Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, Duhok, and Halabja. The Iraqi federal authorities' relations with the autonomous region deteriorated after the Kurds held an independence referendum not sanctioned by Baghdad in September 2017, in which 93% of the Kurds voted for independence.
