ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The Kurdistan Ministry of Natural Resources released monthly oil delivery figures on Saturday, reporting a total for April that would meet the amount agreed upon by the regional government to deliver to Baghdad. According to the release, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)’s oil shipment for April met the required 550,000 barrels per day (bpd) that was stipulated in a Baghdad-Erbil oil budget agreement that was established in December. Based on the agreement for 2015, the federal government is required to send the KRG a 17 percent share of the national budget in return for the oil from the Kurdistan region. Baghdad cut budget payments to the KRG in January 2014 in a punitive response to Erbil's bids to export oil independently. Iraqi Oil Minister Abdul Mahdi arrived in Erbil last week and met Kurdish government officials, including President Masoud Barzani, in an effort to salvage the budget deal. Baghdad has accused the KRG of shortages in the oil shipments. KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani announced last week, however, that Erbil has honored the deal and exported 550,000 bpd to the Turkish port of Ceyhan as stipulated in the deal.
