The purpose of the delegation’s visit is to continue talks between Erbil and Baghdad over their outstanding issues mainly centered on oil and gas and federal budget issues, according to a statement issued late Sunday evening by the KRG.
Headed by the KRG’s Minister of State for Negotiation Affairs with the Federal Government Khalid Shwani, the delegation hopes to “guarantee the constitutional rights of the people of the Kurdistan Region,” according to the statement.
The delegation also includes President of the Council of Ministers Diwan Umed Sabah, Head of the Coordination and Follow-up Office Abdulhakim Khasro, and Head of Financial Monitoring Diwan Khalid Hadi Chawshli.
“The best path for the Kurdistan Region is to reach an agreement with Baghdad… if it came down to whether to apply Baghdad’s constitution or to apply the Kurdistan Region’s oil and gas law in international court, Iraq would win since it has a constitution and is treated as a state,” Shwan Zulal, an energy expert and analyst, told Rudaw's Mohammed Sheikh Fatih on Monday, adding that the case has now become a political issue rather than a legal one.
The Region passed its oil and gas law in 2007, enabling it to administer and develop its own oil and gas resources.
Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court in February found the Region’s oil and gas law to be “unconstitutional,” therefore striking down the legal basis for the independence of the Kurdistan Region’s oil and gas sector. Kurdish leaders have slammed the decision repeatedly.
The first round of talks between Baghdad and Erbil regarding the management of the Kurdistan Region’s oil and energy sector were held in April, with both sides believing the meeting proceeded positively. The KRG delegation was again headed by Shwani.
Iraq’s federal budget was passed by its parliament in March last year after heated debates and more than three months after it was first approved by the cabinet. One particularly contentious point was Erbil’s share and requirements for the KRG to hand over oil.
The Kurdistan Region receiving its share of the budget is conditional on Erbil fulfilling its commitments, which include handing over 250,000 barrels of oil per day, paying back money it previously borrowed from the Iraqi Trade Bank, sending non-oil revenues and prioritizing paying the salaries of its civil servants and Peshmerga before any other spending.
