Oil from Iraqi Kurdistan: oil agreement signed between Baghdad and Erbil

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Chia al-Sudani, right, Tuesday, April 4, 2023 with his Kurdish regional counterpart Masrour Barzani in Baghdad. AFP--

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Exports of Kurdish crude, stopped for ten days, will resume. The arbitral tribunal of the International Chamber of Commerce had affirmed Baghdad's sovereignty over the resources of Iraqi Kurdistan, thus prohibiting its trade in the absence of an agreement. This is now done, after more than ten years of dispute between the federal power and the autonomous region, where black gold is all economic life.

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With our correspondent in Erbil, Théo Renaudon

Kurdish oil money must land in the pocket of the Kurdish government, yes, but under the watchful eye of Baghdad. This is what the Kurdish and Iraqi Prime Ministers agreed on on Tuesday, April 4.

The Kurdish oil revenues will therefore be deposited in a bank account belonging to Erbil, but under the observation of the Iraqi National Organization for Oil Marketing.

If these oil revenues are higher than the share of the budget allocated by Iraq to the autonomous region of Kurdistan, then the Kurds will send the surplus money to Baghdad.

If it is the other way around, if the Kurds have not obtained enough money from their oil to reach their share of the budget, then Baghdad will send money to Erbil.

Another change: Kurdish oil will now be sold at a normal price on the international market. It was previously 20% cheaper because of its unstable legal status.

All of this is a provisional agreement. A law passed in the Iraqi Parliament is expected to seal these measures shortly. A first in the history of Iraq.

►Read more: Turkey stops importing oil from Iraqi Kurdistan

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Read on on the same topics:

  • Iraq
  • Kurds
  • Petroleum
  • Energies
  • Trade and Commerce
  • Mohamed Chia al-Soudani