'Erbil to respond to Baghdad's proposal over KRG oil and gas dossier': Kurdish official

"By the end of this week, the KRG will formally respond to the Iraqi Ministry of Oil."

Dler S. Mohammed 2022/05/09 11:23

Chief of Staff of the KRG Council of Ministers Presidency Omed Sabah, May 8, 2022 (Photo: KRG)

Kurdistan KRG Oil and Gas Kurdistan Region oil and gas Iraqi Supreme Federal Court Krg

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Chief of Staff of the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Council of Ministers Presidency Omed Sabah revealed on Sunday that the KRG will respond to Baghdad's proposal on the KRG's oil and gas dossier by the end of this week.

"Following the KRG delegation's visit to Baghdad and its meeting with the Iraqi Oil Ministry in April, the Iraqi Oil Ministry gave a proposal to the KRG delegation regarding a deal over the KRG oil and gas dossier," Sabah said. "The KRG is now discussing the proposal."

"By the end of this week, the KRG will formally respond to the Iraqi Ministry of Oil," he revealed. "Within the constitution's frame, we will continue joint work and cooperation, and the talks will continue."

In early April, Iraqi Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul-Jabbar proposed establishing a new oil company headquartered in Erbil to manage the Kurdistan Region's oil dossier.

The oil minister called for reviewing the contracts and agreements signed by the KRG with oil companies and foreign countries.

Abdul-Jabbar also proposed opening a bank escrow account in one of the international banks in Erbil to deposit the revenues from the KRG's sale and export of crude oil. That account would belong to the Iraqi Ministry of Finance and be used to arrange payments in favor of the Kurdistan Region if the Iraqi Ministry of Finance fails to send the region its dues on time.

Regarding the Iraqi Supreme Federal Court's ruling on the KRG oil and gas dossier, Sabah reaffirmed that the stance of the Kurdistan Region's presidency, government, and parliament is unequivocal and was previously announced.

In its ruling in February, the top court said the KRG is obligated to "hand over all oil production from oil fields in the Kurdistan Region and other areas from which the KRG's Ministry of Natural Resources extracted oil" to the federal government.

On multiple occasions, Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani has firmly rejected the court's ruling, describing it as "unconstitutional." Nevertheless, he has said that his government is willing to make agreements with Baghdad based on the constitution.

Sabah criticized the Iraqi government's double-dealing with the decisions of the Iraqi Supreme Federal Court over the Kurdistan Region.

"While the Iraqi government is very keen to implement the unfair decision of the Iraqi Federal Supreme Court's decision over the oil and gas dossier, it neglected the same court's decision in 2019 over committing the Iraqi government to implement Article 140 to solve the issue of the disputed areas between Erbil and Baghdad," he said.

In an early April meeting of the KRG Council of Ministers, Prime Minister Barzani emphasized that the KRG believes the permanent solution for this dossier is to legislate the Iraqi federal oil and gas law mentioned in the Iraqi constitution.

"The KRG reaffirms its commitment towards the oil companies until reaching a final agreement, according to the constitution, under which the rights of all sides are protected," he said.