Barzani holds press conference: “We formally responded to the Iraqi Oil Ministry’s proposal for Kurdistan’s oil and gas portfolio”

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani held a press conference on Wednesday to discuss the situation in the Kurdistan Region and its relations with the federal government in Baghdad. 

“I emphasize holding the Kurdistan Region’s parliamentary elections on time,” Prime Minister Barzani told the press. “We as the government have made all needed preparations to hold the elections on time and not delay it.” 

“I hope the political parties soon agree on holding the elections according to schedule,” he added. 

Barzani stated that COVID-19, the war in Ukraine, and other global issues led to a worldwide increase in the price of food, fuel, and other materials in the Kurdistan Region and the world.  

“We reduced the electricity fees for the bakeries and reduced tax fees on some imported materials used for making food,” Barzani said. “We support businessmen who import food, so (...) residents can continue to get food and bread at reasonable prices.”

Barzani stated that the KRG has also decided to reduce import fuel prices to make gas available for people at a more reasonable cost.

“We decided to build 20,000 residential units across Kurdistan Region provinces for poor people, with reasonable prices and easy installments. This will not be our last project - we will continue building similar projects.”

Barzani revealed that the government would own the project and implement it through the private sector. 

With respect to the KRG’s plan for dealing with water shortages, Barzani said that his government plans to build several dams in places suitable for saving rainwater. “Not only the people of the Kurdistan region, but people across Iraq will benefit from the water of these dams.”

“Some media say that violence against women only exists in Kurdistan Region, but that’s not true! It exists everywhere in the Middle East and the world,” said Barzani. “We have been taking tough action against those who violate women; still, we also need to take precautionary measures to prevent this from happening in the future by educating people (...).”

“Regarding the energy issue and relations between Erbil and Baghdad, I want to mention that we are keen on finding a solution based on the Iraqi constitution and protecting the people of the Kurdistan Region, as per the constitution,” Barzani said. 

“No one can decide on behalf of the Kurdistan people,” he warned.  

He argued that the constitution articles protecting the people of the Kurdistan Region should be implemented as they are. 

“We have formally responded to the Iraqi Oil Ministry’s proposal over Kurdistan’s oil and gas dossier, and our response was aligned with the Iraqi constitution,” Barzani stated. “In our response, we explained the mechanism to reach an agreement.” 

Prime Minister Barzani said he hoped the Iraqi government would stay away from politicizing the KRG oil and gas portfolio and using it as a card against the people of Kurdistan.

Barzani said that the KRG will continue to send delegations to Baghdad to reach a fair agreement. 

“The KRG’s oil trade is very transparent, and both Deloitte company and the Iraqi State Organization for Marketing of Oil (SOMO) have all the data on the KRG’s oil sales,” Barzani stated. “Unfortunately, the Iraqi oil ministry and SOMO have been threatening oil companies buying KRG oil, which has led to a decrease in the price of oil sold by the KRG.”

Barzani said that a part of his cabinet’s program is to sell oil at higher prices.

“It is not acceptable to go around the constitution and try to impose political will on the people of Kurdistan,” Barzani emphasized. “If Iraq had an oil and gas law, these problems would not exist.” 

“Let’s legislate oil and gas, and through it, we will all know our rights and responsibilities regarding the oil and gas reserves,” he added.