4 Apr. (EUROPE PRESS) –
The central government of Iraq and the authorities of Iraqi Kurdistan have signed an agreement on Tuesday to resume the export of oil by the semi-autonomous region, after months of talks to try to resolve their disputes, in the midst of a serious economic crisis in the country. Asian.
The Prime Minister of Iraq, Mohamed Shia al Sudani, has indicated after the signing of the agreement that “stopping the export of oil from the region damages Iraq’s income” and has stressed that “the technical authorities must immediately apply the agreement and find ways to do so”, as reported by the Iraqi television channel Al Sumaria.
“This agreement confirms the serious desire of the federal and regional governments to deal with all the obstacles inherited in recent years,” he explained, before emphasizing that “dealing with this situation stems from the public interest.”
“We appreciate the efforts of the federal and regional government teams for their professional negotiations”, said Al Sudani, who also expressed his hope that this agreement “pave the way for the approval of the Budgets”, given that “there are political will to move forward on these issues.
For his part, the Prime Minister of Iraqi Kurdistan, Masrur Barzani, has stressed that “this agreement is temporary, but all its principles will be reflected in the Budgets and in the laws on oil and gas”, as reported by the chain of Kurdish television Rudaw.
The agreement thus unblocks oil exports to Turkey after a recent ruling by a Paris arbitration court in favor of Baghdad on crude transit rights. The International Chamber of Commerce found that Ankara had improperly taken advantage of an Iraqi pipeline by importing oil from Kurdistan, prompting an immediate suspension of transit until a new understanding was reached.
The suspension of exports endangered the production of about 450,000 barrels of oil per day, while contributing to a 5.7 percent increase in oil prices on international markets.
