Iraq's central government is considering trimming federal budget payments to the country's Kurdistan by more than $3 billion to cover losses it says came from the region's oil exports, a government spokesman said on Tuesday.

Ali al-Moussawi, advisor to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, said a committee found losses of more than $3 billion resulting from Kurdistan's failure to pump the amount of oil agreed in the budget, and from its recent halting of oil exports.

"In today's cabinet meeting we gave a delegation from the Kurdistan regional government a week to come to Baghdad to discuss this or we will move ahead and deduct this amount from their budget share," he said.

KRG blames Baghdad for not paying the oil majors operating in Kurdistan region.

Kurdistan, caught in a long dispute with Baghdad over oil rights, in April halted its share of national oil exports in protest over central government payments to companies working in its region. It resumed exports at around 120,000 bpd last month, below the agreed 175,000 bpd in the budget.

Reuters : https://pukmedia.co/english/index.php...er-oil-dispute