Kurdistan promises to hand produced oil to Iraq’s central government

BAGHDAD, 21.10.2012 –   aswataliraq.info  – Minister of Natural Resources in the Kurdistan Regional Government KRG Ashti Hawrami announced Sunday that “Kurdish region will abide by the decision to hand over produced oil to the federal government for exporting it”.

In a statement by Iraq’s Deputy Premier for Energy Affairs Hussein Shahristan, a meeting was held among Sharistani, Iraq’s deputy premier for economic affairs Roj Nouri Shawais and Hawrami to exchange views connected with oil issues between Baghdad and Erbil. The Kurdish negotiating delegation, except opposition Change Movement, arrived on Saturday in Baghdad, comprising of former Kurdistan PM Dr Barham Salih (Patriotic Union of Kurdistan PUK), Jaffar Ibrahim (Kurdish Democratic Party), Mohammed Haji Mahmoud (Secretary of the Kurdish Socialist Party) and a number of other Kurdish political parties.

The delegation held a meeting with Kurdistan region president Massoud Barzani to agree on the bases to be discussed with Baghdad.  Relations between the central government in Baghdad and Kurdistan government have been strained after disagreements over private oil contracts concluded by the Kurdistan region with a number of foreign companies which Baghdad deem “illegal”.

PUK’s deputy secretary general Barham Salih said in Baghdad Sunday that “dialogue is the best and only solution to problems between Baghdad and Erbil”, pointing that the dialogue with the National Alliance was “frank and cordial”. Salih, in a joint press conference with the National Alliance, described the meeting as “cordial and frank with certain emphasis on the constitution and the implementation of it is article for the benefit of the whole Iraqi people, not a certain component”. He stressed the importance of the dialogue to lay out a road map to solve all problems.