Economy

PM Barzani chairs first meeting of Kurdistan Region Oil and Gas Supreme Council

The council also discussed the oil and gas disputes between the KRG and the Iraqi government and the KRG’s legal efforts to confront unjust pressure on its oil and gas sector.

Dler S. Mohammed 2022/06/30 21:38

Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, chairing a meeting of the Kurdistan Region Oil and Gas Supreme Council, June 30, 2022. (Photo: KRG)

Kurdistan Masrour Barzani KRG PM Krg Kurdistan Region Kurdistan Region Oil and Gas Supreme Council Kurdistan Region oil and gas KRG energy sector

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani chaired the first meeting of the Kurdistan Region Oil and Gas Supreme Council on Thursday.

Prime Minister Barzani discussed oil revenues for the first six months of 2022 with Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani, who is also the council’s deputy president, and the rest of the council’s members.

The meeting comes a day after the Kurdistan Parliament activated the council on Wednesday.

Attendees discussed how oil revenue was spent. The majority of this revenue went to paying government employee salaries. They also discussed other expenditures the revenue was used for paying.

The council revealed that the Deloitte auditing company’s report about the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) oil revenues for the last six months will be released next week.

The council also discussed the oil and gas disputes between the KRG and the Iraqi government and the KRG’s legal efforts to confront unjust pressure on its oil and gas sector.

The council’s members emphasized resolving the Erbil-Baghdad disputes per the Iraqi constitution and reaffirmed the KRG delegation’s readiness to visit Baghdad for talks.

The Kurdistan Parliament approved amendments to the Kurdistan Region’s oil and gas law in its Wednesday session.

“The amendment added one additional member to the Kurdistan Region’s Oil and Gas Supreme Council,” Ali Hama-Salih, the Energy and Natural Resources Committee head, told Kurdistan 24.

“Seventy-nine parliament members out of the 111 members voted for amending Article 4 of the oil and gas law,” Golizar Rasheed, the deputy head of parliament’s Energy and Natural Resources Committee, told Kurdistan 24.

The Iraqi government is supposed to send 200 billion Iraqi dinars (approximately $137 million) per month to the KRG to pay its employees’ salaries. However, over the last six months, Baghdad has only sent 400 billion dinars (approximately $274 million).