The Iraqi Oil Ministry expects to resolve the dispute with the authorities of the semi-autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan over crude oil exploitation rights within six months at the latest, thanks to the «significant progress» made in recent weeks between Erbil and Baghdad.
«At this point, we are ready to resume the visits of our delegations and hope to draft a law on the matter in less than six months,» said the director of the ministry’s legal office, Laiz Abdul Husein, in comments to the Kurdish Rudaw news agency.
Tension between the Iraqi central government and the Kurdistan authorities flared up in February when Iraq’s Supreme Court declared «unconstitutional» the law in force until now that guaranteed Kurdish autonomy over their oilfields.
Since then, the Kurdistan Regional Government has appealed the court’s ruling at every opportunity.
Shortly after taking office, the new Iraqi Prime Minister, Mohamed Shiaa Al Sudani, reiterated his commitment to strengthening relations between Iraq and Iraqi Kurdistan through a new framework of constitutional collaboration to «resolve long-pending disputes».
