Today, Ghaleb Muhammad, a former member of the Parliamentary Oil and Gas Committee, stated that the oil file in the Kurdistan region is currently under the control of the Baghdad government, as stated in the financial budget law. He also emphasized that the federal government has three available options to regulate the region’s oil.
During an interview with the information agency, Muhammad stated that the financial budget law specifies the quantities the region must provide to the federal government, as outlined in Articles 13 and 14. Specifically, the region is obligated to deliver 400,000 barrels of oil.
According to him, the oil of the Kurdistan region falls under the jurisdiction of the Iraqi government, which means that Baghdad controls it through the Iraqi Oil Ministry and SOMO, in accordance with the budget law and the constitution.
According to a representative from the Parliamentary Oil Committee, the government must implement several actions to manage the oil in the region. These actions could involve sending the oil to Iran, utilizing it for a barter deal with gas, negotiating an agreement with Turkey, or transporting it through Ceyhan.
Muhammad suggested that Baghdad can utilize the quantities of oil within their country, including the refineries in Kurdistan and those near the region’s borders.
A report from the British website Argos, which focuses on economic affairs, has revealed that the Kurdistan region is not meeting its quota of sending 400,000 barrels of oil per day to Baghdad. The report states that the region is only sending between 50,000 to 60,000 barrels per day.
The Parliament has approved the federal budget law for the next three years, which includes provisions that require the Kurdistan region to send 400,000 barrels of oil per day to Baghdad. In exchange, the region will receive their share in the budget.
