Peregraf - A senior advisor to the Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) Ministry of Natural Resources said on August 8 that the ministry is in discussions with Iraq's Ministry of Oil to increase the Kurdistan Region's crude oil allocation by 50,000 barrels per day to meet domestic needs.
Dr. Baroz Aziz, senior advisor to the KRG Ministry of Natural Resources, said in remarks to a portion of the media that the ministry is currently negotiating with Iraq's Ministry of Oil to raise the Region's crude allocation by 50,000 barrels to address internal consumption needs. "We are working to ensure that citizens of the Kurdistan Region are treated the same as citizens elsewhere in Iraq," he said.
Aziz linked the gasoline crisis to the broader security situation in the region, saying that once the situation is resolved, the crisis will be resolved as well. "We are doing everything we can to resolve this problem, as we have resolved all other problems," he said.
The remarks came the same day gasoline prices in Erbil reached as high as 2,390 dinars per liter for premium-grade "Super" gasoline, far above the federally subsidized price of 450 dinars per liter for Normal-grade gasoline charged elsewhere in Iraq. Iraq's Oil Minister, Bassem Mohammed Khudhair al-Abadi, said at a press conference in Baghdad on August 8 that the price gap traces back to a tripartite agreement between the federal Ministry of Oil, the KRG, and oil companies operating in the Kurdistan Region, under which the KRG already receives 50,000 barrels of crude oil per day for its own refineries in exchange for handling fuel distribution to citizens itself, rather than receiving subsidized products directly from Baghdad. Al-Abadi said at the press conference that the KRG's request for an increased crude allocation was under discussion and that he expected a resolution "in the coming days."
The gasoline price hikes have also prompted public frustration in the Kurdistan Region. Drivers in Duhok Governorate blocked the Besre–Duhok road on August 8, protesting the rising fuel prices and continued shortages.