SULAIMANI (ESTA) — A delegation from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is expected to pay a visit to Baghdad on Monday for talks on oil and gas, Esta Media Network has learned.
The delegation is expected to discuss a federal court’s ruling on the Kurdistan Region’s oil and gas law, according to information Esta Media Network has obtained.
The delegation will also hold talks with senior Iraqi officials to discuss suspending issues between the Region and Baghdad.
On Wednesday, the KRG Council of Ministers decided to send a high-level delegation to Baghdad for talks on oil with the Iraqi government.
The KRG said in a statement that the delegation would discuss with related institutions of the federal government “so as to develop cooperation in the oil and energy sector on the basis of Iraqi Constitution”.
The KRG has been developing oil and gas resources independently of the federal government, and in 2007 enacted its own law that established the directives by which the region would administer them.
The Region’s massive untapped oil reserves, lucrative production-sharing contracts and safe environment have prompted international oil companies over recent years to commit to investing billions of dollars there.
But in February, Iraq’s federal court deemed the oil and gas law regulating the oil industry in Kurdistan unconstitutional and demanded that the KRG hand over their crude supplies.
Iraq’s oil minister Ihsan Abdul Jabbar said last week that the country would use new criteria to calculate Kurdistan’s share of oil exports delivered to the federal government.
“Last year there were small sums of money paid to the Region but this year there will be other criteria to calculate the Region’s share,” Abdul Jabbar said, according to the state news agency.
The federal government is “working on them,” he added.
