Oil Minister informs Parliament: We have not reached an agreement with Kurdistan
A member of the parliamentary oil committee, Bahaa al-Din Nouri, revealed on Monday that federal oil minister Hayan Abdul Ghani confirmed that the Kurdistan Region would not abide by the agreement regarding exports via the Turkish-Ceyhan pipeline. Nouri also indicated that a delegation from the region would arrive in Baghdad.
Nouri told Shafaq News Agency, “The committee held a meeting today in the House of Representatives and hosted the Minister of Oil and senior staff from the ministry to inquire and discuss a number of important laws.”
He added, “The meeting discussed the Kurdistan Region’s oil file and the status of negotiations between the central government and the region. According to the minister, there are points of disagreement in the negotiations, and no conclusion has been reached, including local consumption and the transfer of financial revenues to the federal government.”
He stressed that ” the Ministry of Oil has completed all procedures and the region’s oil can be exported via the Turkish-Ceyhan pipeline, but the region has not complied with what was agreed upon in Article 12 of the budget law, especially since the consulting company is ready, but the region has also refused its entry.”
He added, ” A delegation from the regional government will visit Baghdad within the next 24 hours to reach an agreement in accordance with the proposed proposals.”
The Iraqi Parliament’s Oil, Gas, and Natural Resources Committee announced that it would host the Minister of Oil and a number of senior ministry officials on Monday to discuss issues described as “serious.”
“The meeting will focus on what he described as a structural collapse within the Ministry of Oil, amid indications of the influence of external parties, including a figure called ‘Omid,’ who has come to control sensitive areas within the ministry,” the committee’s spokesman, MP Ali Shaddad, told Shafaq News Agency.
Shaddad pointed out that “Iraq faces the risk of US sanctions being imposed on the Ministry of Oil due to violations and mismanagement that could be interpreted as a breach of international obligations,” warning that this “could lead to widespread economic paralysis and a collapse in the country’s financial revenue stream.”
The US Treasury Department had previously imposed a package of sanctions on individuals and entities involved in fuel smuggling and illicit gains that fund armed groups in the region. International reports warned that official Iraqi institutions could also be subject to these measures if their complicity or leniency is proven.
Iraq’s budget is almost entirely dependent on oil exports, making any sanctions on the Ministry of Oil or its companies, such as SOMO, a direct threat to economic stability.
Shafaq.com