Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraq Says to Start Work on Final Oil Deal with Kurdish Region in Weeks

Dec 22, 2014 | Rania El Gamal, Reuters
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Iraq's Kurdish region will continue to export its own crude oil under an initial deal with Baghdad until a comprehensive deal is reached, with work on a final agreement expected to start within weeks, Iraqi oil minister Adel Abdel Mehdi said on Monday.

Early this month, the Iraqi central government reached a temporary agreement with Kurdish regional authorities ending a bitter dispute over oil exports by and budget payments to the semi-autonomous Kurdish region.

Under the deal, Kurdish fields would export 250,000 barrels per day through Iraq's state oil marketing organisation (SOMO), while an additional 300,000 bpd from the Iraqi area of Kirkuk would be exported via a pipeline running through Kurdish territory.