SULAIMANI (ESTA) — It does not matter who sells oil, what matters is to satisfy people’s needs, Kurdistan Region Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani on Tuesday said after Erbil agreed to Baghdad to control Kurdish crude exports and its revenue.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and Iraq’s Federal government have been at odds for nearly a decade over independent oil export by the KRG via Turkey without the consent of Baghdad.
The situation eventually led the two sides to sign a deal to settle the decade-old crude dispute following an arbitration ruling that had recently stopped Kurdish oil exports in favor of Baghdad.
“There were no other options before the KRG except for agreement and allowing Iraq’s oil marketing company (SOMO) to sell the Kurdish oil,” said the Deputy Prime Minister in a statement.
The official also stated, “Agreement is still the correct step to restart Kurdish oil export even though we should have earlier done this by our own will.”
“We had earlier stressed, It does not matter who sells oil, what is matter is to satisfy people’s needs,” he added.
The official further said that “It’s time to confess our faults not to act like a champion to have a clear vision to see the errors and address them for the sake of the Kurdish people.”
“There are no excuses from now on for the Kurdistan parliament to not pass a transparent budget law,” the official stressed, according to the statement.
“After a decade of political turmoil, a golden opportunity has emerged therefore, we should all act responsibly to correct past mistakes and restore hope for the Kurdish people.”
