Erbil-Baghdad negotiations are continuing, KRG head of Foreign Relations says

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Safeen Dizayee, Head of the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Department of Foreign Relations, on Friday, told Kurdistan 24 that the negotiations between Erbil and Baghdad on the oil issue are continuing.

He also said that the Foreign Relations Office plans to expand its relations with other countries around the world by opening new KRG representations.

Dizayee explained that the Kurdistan Region had good relations with Turkey before oil was exported from Region to Turkey.

PM Barzani visited Baghdad on April 4 and signed a new interim deal. This would allow the Kurdish region to export oil to Turkey’s Ceyhan port. After the Paris-based International Court of Arbitration ruling, in which Iraq claimed victory in a legal challenge against Turkey, the oil export was halted.  Following the signing ceremony in the Iraqi capital, PM Barzani and Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ Al-Sudani held a joint news conference to announce the new deal.

Per the new deal, the Iraqi state-owned marketing company, SOMO, will market and export 400,000 bpd of Kurdish crude oil at market prices.

Kurdish oil sales revenue will be deposited in a Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) account owned by the KRG and monitored by Baghdad, according to the agreement.

The agreement will be in effect until a final hydrocarbon law is enacted. At the press conference on Tuesday, both Premiers declared that the principles of the interim oil agreement would be reflected in a federal hydrocarbon law in the future.