US calls for KRG oil contracts with IOCs to be respected

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The US diplomatic mission in Erbil said Wednesday that existing contracts between international oil companies (IOCs) and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) must be respected amid pressure from Baghdad jeopardizing the Kurdistan Region's oil and gas sector.

The new US Consul General to Erbil Irvin Hicks Jr. met with the KRG's electricity minister and acting natural resources minister Kamal Muhammad Salih to discuss Washington's support for reform in the Kurdistan Region's electricity sector.

"We support the KRG's dialogue with the Government of #Iraq on hydrocarbons and agree existing oil contracts must be respected," read a statement from the US consulate. 

Iraq's top court in February found the Kurdistan Region's oil and gas law to be "unconstitutional," therefore striking down the legal basis for the independence of the Region's oil and gas sector, a decision repeatedly slammed by Kurdish leaders. 

Iraq’s oil ministry last month said US energy giants Schlumberger, Baker Hughes, and Halliburton are in the process of liquidating and exiting existing tenders and contracts in the Region in compliance with the supreme court’s decision.

The US State Department later urged Erbil and Baghdad to cooperate in dealing with disputes to safeguard interests.

"Any dispute between Baghdad and Erbil has the potential to set back those interests and the interest that we do share with the people of Iraq and the Kurdish people as well," State Department spokesperson Ned Price told Rudaw's Roj Eli Zalla.

Iraqi Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul Jabbar in June backed the implementation of the federal court's decision on the Kurdistan Region's oil and gas law, stating that Iraq should have a standard method of managing the country's wealth.