ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—Following a meeting with Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani on Wednesday, Iraqi premier Nuri al-Maliki said that Erbil and Baghdad are closer than ever to solving their disputes over natural resources and the country’s budget.
“I believe we touched on several important issues to improve the relations between the federal government and the Kurdistan Region,” Maliki told Rudaw.
The main topic of discussion between the Kurdish Prime Minister and his Iraqi counterpart was the autonomous region’s oil exports to Turkey and from there to the world market.
Iraqi Minister of Oil, Abdelkarim al-Luaybi also told Rudaw that his government doesn’t have any objections to Kurdistan’s oil exports to the outside world as long as both sides have a clear understanding on the process.
“The first thing is the way the oil that is exported is measured,” said al-Luaybi. “It should be carefully measured as has been agreed between both sides.”
Al-Luaybi added that Kurdistan’s exports should conform to Iraq’s policy on oil prices.
“We have a clear mechanism for selling oil according to world prices,” he said. “Also, Iraq is abiding by the security council resolution about putting the oil revenue in an account under international supervision.”
In their meeting on Wednesday both prime ministers discussed the region’s budget which Erbil claims has been reduced by Baghdad to only 10 percent in violation of the constitution that allocates 17 percent of the federal budget to the autonomous region.
“We had positive talks about the oil exports and the budget,” said Maliki. “And the expert teams will continue their discussions to identify all the points for a final agreement.”
The Kurdish delegation led by Barzani was in Baghdad for several hours only, but they are expected to return after the New Year holidays.
After years of dispute between Baghdad and Erbil over the Kurdistan Region’s oil policy and its export deals with Turkey, both governments agreed to end the dispute earlier this month.
“Now, the experts are meeting with the minister of oil and the head of the energy committee and they will agree on everything,” said Maliki, referring to the Kurdish delegation’s meeting with their Iraqi counterparts. “And next year when they return we will find a solution to the oil export, revenue sharing, oil extraction and the rights of the companies.”
Maliki said he was hopeful that all those issues would be solved in the next meeting.
Erbil had often complained that Baghdad had refused to pay the fees of foreign oil companies that work on oil exploration in Kurdistan.
Maliki said that despite the different opinions between Erbil and Baghdad, a solution is to be found.
“He [PM Barzani], the government and the ministry of oil all have their opinions,” he said. “But regardless, a solution should still be found.”
“The solution doesn’t mean taking what the Kurdistan Region has brought here or what the ministry of oil says,” he added. “But a solution that serves Iraq and all its elements, including the Kurdistan Region and all the provinces.”
