In the wake of recent tensions between the Iraqi federal government and the Kurdistan Region over oil and gas exports, Al-Sabah reported, citing informed sources, that Erbil was seeking to invest in the Sulaimaniyah gas sector with the aim of exporting it.
The newspaper added that Sulaimaniyah officials opposed the decision and called on Baghdad, not Erbil, to invest in the gas field in order to respect the rulings of the Iraqi Federal Court and prevent the consequences of illegal gas exports.
Meanwhile, a well-informed Kurdish source told Al-Sabah that Iraq’s independence over the gas of a neighboring country is disturbing and that Tehran and Moscow will not remain silent in the face of efforts to replace Kurdistan’s gas with Russian gas.
Regarding Europe’s desire for Iraqi Kurdistan regional gas, he said that Britain wants to export regional gas, as evidenced by the warm welcome of the head of the Kurdistan Regional Government in London and his meeting with the British Prime Minister. The war in Ukraine.
In an interview with Al-Sabah, Soran Omar, a member of the Kurdistan Justice Association, said that the issue of providing oil and border crossings in Sulaymaniyah province to the Iraqi federal government could not be seen as a solution to the crisis between Baghdad and Erbil, and that this was almost impossible. Is.
He added that the gas issue is currently being used as leverage by the Iraqi Kurdistan Region against Baghdad, and that in order to reach a comprehensive solution to end Baghdad’s payroll crisis, all of the region’s oil revenues must go to the government. Central to be delivered.
In an interview with Al-Sabah, Sadegh al-Rakabi, director of the International Center for Development Studies in Britain, said that the lack of internal agreement on the passage of the oil and gas law and partisan conflicts and personal interests have weakened the Iraqi central government and the Iraqi Kurdistan region alike.
Al-Rakabi added that the current situation between Baghdad and Erbil and the lack of trust between the two sides have led some neighboring countries to take advantage of this situation and use the Iraqi energy file as a means to intervene in the country.
Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Masroor Barzani told a news conference in Erbil on Wednesday that the sale of regional oil at a price lower than the world market price was not correct. Kurdistan Region oil is threatened and pressured at low prices.
Earlier, Iraqi Oil Minister Ehsan Abdul Jabbar said that the management of the oil sector in the Iraqi Kurdistan region was wrong and that the region’s oil revenues did not reach more than 50 percent of the value of oil sold.
On the other hand, the Iraqi Federal Court in its February 15 session, which was dedicated to the issue of oil exports to the Iraqi Kurdistan Region without the coordination and permission of the central government, ruled that the Iraqi Kurdistan Region Oil and Gas Law is unconstitutional.
Under the ruling, the Iraqi Kurdish provincial government was required to notify the Iraqi Ministry of Oil and the Iraqi Inspectorate of contracts for the sale of oil and gas to the Kurdistan Region.
The Iraqi Kurdistan Region is also required to provide all of its oil revenues to the Federal Ministry of Oil.
