Talks to resolve the perennial oil sharing dispute between the Iraqi government and Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) may have finally reached a breakthrough this week. Both sides agreed in principle to abide by the constitutional arrangement whereupon the KRG receives 12.5% of the federal government’s budgeted spending whilst handing over 250,000 b/d to Somo.
The KRG’s independent oil exports have been a major bone of contention with Baghdad and a key cause of broader tensions between the two parties – including the 2017 operation to retake two of the KRG’s key producing fields, Bai Hassan and the Avana Dome, which transferred 280,000 b/d of production back to federal Iraqi authority following the Kurds’ independence referendum (MEES, 20 October 2017). (CONTINUED - 542 WORDS)
