Iraq/Kurdistan: Conflicts and Oil Agreements: Baghdad and Erbil's Truly Ambivalent Relationship

Feb 8, 2015 | Al Bawaba
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The Kurdish region’s oil supply is a major point of contention in Iraq as it brings up questions of wealth distribution and foreign exports. The matter is further complicated by the ambiguous relationship between the institutions of the Iraqi state, particularly the relationship between the central government in Baghdad and the regional government of Iraqi Kurdistan.

The current Iraqi government headed by Haider al-Abadi is counting on an “interim” oil agreement reached last November, yet the agreement rearranged the relationship with Erbil in a manner that is still unclear and raises a number of problems.

Under this agreement, the oil fields in Kurdistan will export 250,000 barrels per day through the Iraqi oil marketing company (SOMO), while 300,000 additional barrels will be exported from the Kirkuk region through a pipeline that runs through Kurdistan. Iraqi Oil Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi explained at an earlier time that the agreement was reached quickly in order for Baghdad to prepare a budget for 2015. The minister pointed out that the Kurdistan region can continue to export more than the 250,000-barrels-a-day. At the same time, the legal action undertaken by Baghdad against the authorities in Erbil regarding oil exports will also continue.