By Nawzad Mahmoud ERBIL, Kurdistan Region- Representatives of Kurdistan Region in Tehran said talks on Kurdistan oil export through Iran will be resumed with the Islamic Republic of Iran after Newroz holidays. Nazim Dabagh, the representative of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) office in Tehran, said that talks with Tehran have yet to reach a consensus. Dabagh said on April 4-5th the holidays will finish and “the parties will resume talks.” The KRG exports oil through the Kirkuk to Ceyhan oil pipeline to the international market with a maximum sale of 700,000 barrels a day. Many argue that Kurdistan Region needs to seek another major market to export its oil to and that Iran would be an ideal country for it to export its oil through. After sanction against Iran were lifted the Kurdistan Region began to think about the prospect of exporting oil through Iran. “The current talks revolve around exporting oil through Iran and importing natural Gas from Iran to Kurdistan,” he added. However Dabagh believes that the current financial crisis in Kurdistan has slowed down the process. He says the oil pipeline will be placed in Iran for exporting oil without revealing further details on the number of barrels that will be exported per day. “Iran has agreed to have Kurdistan's oil exported through it, ” Dabagh added. Dabgh said the agreement is not based on the fact that Kurdistan already exports oil to the refineries in Iran to be refined and the sent back to Kurdistan, noting more future plans are underway. “At the moment, the oil is sent through vehicles and it is true the oil is filtered in Iran’s oil refineries but as soon as the export increases, it will be exported to the outside as well,” he explained. Many agreements between the KRG and the Islamic Republic of Iran have been signed yet few have been implemented. After his visit to Iran the governor of Sulaimania said that Iran is ready to provide several areas of Kurdistan with 24 hour electricity, especially after the agreement on providing Penjwin electricity. However, Kurdistan representative in Iran says Kurdistan’s electricity deal goes back to the time Jalal Talabani was President of Iraq. “It was planned for Haji Omaran to provide 300 megawatt, 150 megawatt electricity and 150 through Bashmakhan but Kurdistan Region managed to buy only 20 megawatt,” he added. Dabagh says it is not about Iran, the KRG should have followed its plan and completed the electricity transformation lines. Several Iranian companies want their debts from the KRG repaid and the current financial crisis has resulted in no further actions being taken. “I have suggested a way for Kurdistan to pay its debts and that is by selling part of its oil,” said Dabgh. Dabgh said that the Kurdistan Region's Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani agreed with his suggestion, but so far "the suggestion is neither been approved nor rejected.” Many Kurds in the Kurdistan Region also wonder if Iran would accept an independence referendum. Dabgah said that Iran has a clear say on this matter and has already showed support to the continued unity of Iraq. He says that the Iranian officials wonder why the Kurdistan Region would announce referendum adding “Iran has announced its position in this matter and Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's foreign minister, said that they support the unity of Iraq.”
