MESOP “KURDISH CASH” – Kurdistan oil flow to Turkey exceeds agreements, Iraqi PM Abadi says

4 Jan 2017 BAGHDAD, RUDAW / MESOP — The export of crude oil by Kurdistan to Turkey’s Ceyhan port exceeds the amount that the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and Baghdad agreed upon, Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi said on Tuesday. “The region is exporting more than its share, more than the 17 percent stated in the budget,” Abadi said.Abadi, cited in Iraqi state media, said he encouraged the KRG to be more transparent about its oil flow regarding the pipeline to Ceyhan port.“The KRG is exporting more oil than the amount agreed upon through Turkey’s Ceyhan port,” he said.

Turkey and the KRG signed a 50-year energy deal which resumed the flow of Kurdish oil to international markets, despite the federal government’s demands for an immediate halt to sales.

The details of the energy agreement struck between the KRG and Turkey have remained a secret ever since it was declared by Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani during a parliament session in June, 2014.

Tensions between the KRG and the central government hit a high in 2015, after officials from both sides accused each other of failing to abide by the terms of an oil revenue sharing deal struck by officials in December 2014.

In November, OPEC agreed to cut output by 1.2 million barrels per day from January 2017 to support prices. Iraq, OPEC’s second largest producer, agreed to reduce output by 200,000 bpd to 4.351 million bpd.

Lawmakers and political figures have previously criticized and accused the KRG of not being transparent with oil exports and revenues.

Kurdistan considered as the most corrupted part of Iraq. According to Kurdish lawmakers billions of dollars are missing from Iraqi Kurdistan’s oil revenues. The Kurdistan’s Ministry of Natural Resources has rebutted those accusations as unfounded.

Senior KRG officials including Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani have long been accused by the opposition and observers of corruption or taking government money.

Many Kurdish politicians and political figures believe that many of the oil industry projects in Iraqi Kurdistan are conducted in a non-transparent way. Some have even described them as secretive.

A Kurdish official, however, quickly dismissed Abadi’s claims that the KRG is not transparent in its oil affairs.

“It is not surprising that Abadi says such things. He even does not deserve to be answered. But, I repeat for the public opinion, that the Kurdistan Region exports 520 to 550,000 bpd to the Ceyhan port. Together with Kirkuk oilfields, the portion reaches 580 to 600,000 bpd,” Dilshad Shaaban, deputy head of natural resources and energy committee in the Kurdistan parliament, told Rudaw. www.mesop.de