ERBIL — The Kurdistan Region and Iraqi federal government on Monday discussed the oil disputes and the suggestion of establishing a new oil company to manage the energy sector, a statement by the Iraqi Oil Ministry said.
The statement came after a meeting between a high-ranking delegation from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) with Iraqi Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul Jabbar in Baghdad, which discussed the issue in light of a recent ruling by the Iraqi Supreme Federal Court on KRG’s oil industry.
After the meeting, Iraqi oil minister Ihsan Abdul Jabbar held a joint press conference with Khalid Shawani, KRG's minister of state for negotiation affairs with the federal government.
“Iraq's oil minister stressed on the basic principles that were previously suggested by the oil ministry regarding managing the oil dossier in the Kurdistan region, that includes reviewing and amending all contracts that were signed by the KRG with the international oil companies," the media office of the Iraqi oil ministry said in a statement cited by Arab News.
The Kurdish delegation will return to Erbil to discuss the proposal with authorities at the KRG, the minister added, noting that the agreement also requires all contracts with foreign companies to be referred to Baghdad for revision.
According to the Iraqi suggestions, international oil companies will no longer sign contracts with the KRG ministry of natural resources, rather a new oil company based in Erbil and under the supervision of the Iraqi oil ministry will be the only entity to be able to would sign contracts.
“The company would open a bank account at an international bank and the revenues from selling oil from the Kurdistan region will be directly transferred into the Iraqi finance ministry," the Iraqi oil ministry added.
Shwani, on his turn, explained that passing a federal oil and gas law would be the best option to address all the disagreements, but the establishment of the oil company, that would be named “Kurdistan Region Oil Company (KROC)” is also a good start for now to enhance cooperation between Erbil and Baghdad.