SULAIMANI (ESTA) — The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) said any solution to the issue of oil and gas between Erbil and Baghdad should be based on the constitution, after the Iraqi oil minister proposed to form a company to handle the Region’s oil operations.
KRG Spokesman Jotiar Adil said the Region’s focus remains on finding practical and legal solutions on oil and gas issue, which protect the rights of the people of the Region and Iraq.
“These solutions should be based on, and, indeed, respect the Constitution’s requirements for a fair and equitable distribution of Iraq’s oil and gas revenues,” Adil said in a statement on Wednesday.
“This will help lay a solid foundation for cooperation and a genuine partnership between the Kurdistan Region and the Federal Government in ways that benefit the peoples of Kurdistan and all of Iraq,” he added.
On Tuesday, Iraqi Oil Minister Ihsan Abduljabbar told state news agency INA that he had proposed to form a company tasked with managing upstream and oil exports operations in the Kurdistan Region.
The KRG spokesman said those reports would not distract the KRG’s priorities from its ongoing and constructive discussions with the federal government.
The Iraqi oil minister further said talks between the federal government and the KRG on oil issues had reached a positive understanding, according to INA.
Iraqi and Kurdish officials have been negotiating to reach a final agreement on their outstanding issues, including oil, gas, revenue sharing and border crossings.
