Kurdistan
A petrol station in the Kurdistan Region capital Erbil. File photo: Bilind T. Abdullah/Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Petrol prices will be stabilized in the Kurdistan Region following an agreement with Iraq and Kurdish companies to distribute more than two million liters of fuel per day, a government spokesperson said on Wednesday.
“Companies that refine crude oil and produce petrol, such as KAR Company and Lanaz Company, have shown readiness to distribute one million liters of benzene per day to the gas stations in a fair way. Some petrol stations used to have different prices, this will not be the case anymore,” Jotiar Adil, spokesperson for the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), said in a press conference on Wednesday following a Council of Ministers’ meeting.
“We have made an agreement with Iraq as well to send an amount of benzene so that we can stabilize the price of benzene. I can’t tell you today how much that will be per liter, because benzene prices are being changed every second,” added Adil.
“We reiterated that benzene should be distributed in a fair way to the cities and towns in the Kurdistan Region so that prices are equal,” he said. “We hope that the price of petrol will be decreased in the next few days.”
Erbil and Baghdad last month reached a deal that sees Iraq’s oil ministry sending 1.08 million liters of petrol per day to the Kurdistan Region.
The Kurdistan Region needs around five million liters of petrol per day, according to Kurdistan Region’s Minister of Natural Resources Kamal Atroshi.
Fuel prices started to increase in the Kurdistan Region from February this year, prompting protests. Multiple reasons are behind the hike, including increased price of crude oil, devaluation of the dinar, taxes, and fuel monopolies.
Some petrol stations are selling at more than double pre-February rates, but prices remained stable in Iraqi provinces, sending some drivers to fuel up in Iraq.
Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani said the Iraqi government is better situated economically to control the market than the KRG is.
“Most of the benzene that is being sent to the Kurdistan Region is imported from abroad, and benzene is an oil product, so when oil prices increase in the world market, it will for sure increase in the Kurdistan Region as well. The Iraqi government provides great funds for the oil sector, that’s why it can control its prices. The Kurdistan Region’s economy is not on a level where we can fund the oil sector like the Iraqi government,” he told media on Thursday in Sulaimani.
“What we can do is facilitate work so that the oil is imported from abroad in an easier way and with less cost, but we need to keep a balance between the cost and the quality,” he said.
The government is also taking other steps to control prices, Talabani explained.
“We need to increase local production and we have made an agreement with the Iraqi government to import more oil from Iraq into the Kurdistan Region’s market. This will make oil prices decrease in the Kurdistan Region. Also, there were taxes at the border crossings, we decreased those,” he said.
“Companies that refine crude oil and produce petrol, such as KAR Company and Lanaz Company, have shown readiness to distribute one million liters of benzene per day to the gas stations in a fair way. Some petrol stations used to have different prices, this will not be the case anymore,” Jotiar Adil, spokesperson for the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), said in a press conference on Wednesday following a Council of Ministers’ meeting.
“We have made an agreement with Iraq as well to send an amount of benzene so that we can stabilize the price of benzene. I can’t tell you today how much that will be per liter, because benzene prices are being changed every second,” added Adil.
“We reiterated that benzene should be distributed in a fair way to the cities and towns in the Kurdistan Region so that prices are equal,” he said. “We hope that the price of petrol will be decreased in the next few days.”
Erbil and Baghdad last month reached a deal that sees Iraq’s oil ministry sending 1.08 million liters of petrol per day to the Kurdistan Region.
The Kurdistan Region needs around five million liters of petrol per day, according to Kurdistan Region’s Minister of Natural Resources Kamal Atroshi.
Fuel prices started to increase in the Kurdistan Region from February this year, prompting protests. Multiple reasons are behind the hike, including increased price of crude oil, devaluation of the dinar, taxes, and fuel monopolies.
Some petrol stations are selling at more than double pre-February rates, but prices remained stable in Iraqi provinces, sending some drivers to fuel up in Iraq.
Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani said the Iraqi government is better situated economically to control the market than the KRG is.
“Most of the benzene that is being sent to the Kurdistan Region is imported from abroad, and benzene is an oil product, so when oil prices increase in the world market, it will for sure increase in the Kurdistan Region as well. The Iraqi government provides great funds for the oil sector, that’s why it can control its prices. The Kurdistan Region’s economy is not on a level where we can fund the oil sector like the Iraqi government,” he told media on Thursday in Sulaimani.
“What we can do is facilitate work so that the oil is imported from abroad in an easier way and with less cost, but we need to keep a balance between the cost and the quality,” he said.
The government is also taking other steps to control prices, Talabani explained.
“We need to increase local production and we have made an agreement with the Iraqi government to import more oil from Iraq into the Kurdistan Region’s market. This will make oil prices decrease in the Kurdistan Region. Also, there were taxes at the border crossings, we decreased those,” he said.
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