US diplomat underlines importance of negotiation between Erbil and Baghdad to solve oil dispute

23-04-2022 09:16

PEREGRAF

The US State Department's Assistant Secretary for Iraq and Iran on Friday stressed the importance of negotiation between Erbil and Baghdad on their oil and gas issues and coming to an agreement that is "acceptable" for both governments.

"As far as the specifics of the oil and gas sector, we understand the importance of it to the Kurdistan Regional Government and to the economy of the Kurdistan region.  Again, we support a stable, prosperous, democratic, and unified Iraq that includes the Kurdistan Region," Jennifer Gavito said in a special press briefing held via telephone attended by Peregraf.

"Therefore, in our view, it's important that the Government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government come to the table to negotiate a solution to the oil issue that is acceptable to both parties," she added.

Iraq's Federal Supreme Court in mid-February ruled the Kurdistan Region's Oil and Gas Law of 2007 as "unconstitutional," and said the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) should hand over its oil to the federal government, give Baghdad authority to review, monitor, and rescind contracts with companies that explore, extract, export, and sell oil.

Kurdistan Region's Prime Minister Masrour Barzani in a speech he delivered at Dubai's Atlantic Council Global Energy Forum in late March, said "We will become a net exporter of gas to the rest of Iraq, Turkey and Europe in the near future, and help meet their energy security needs."

He added that the Kurdistan Region has "the capacity now to make up for at least some of the shortfall of oil in Europe, if our partners in Baghdad are prepared to work with us."

However, the two sides are yet to reach an agreement.

Gavito met with the Kurdistan Region's President Nechirvan Barzani, Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, as well as other senior officials in Erbil earlier in March, noting that she has discussed a wide range of topics including the oil and gas sectors, and called their conversations "very positive."

"I don't want to get into specifics of what we discussed, but I can just say it ran the full range of our concern over government formation, including the need for Kurdish unity, moving forward in order to protect the well-being of the Kurdish people within the context of a federal Iraq.  We talked about human rights and press freedom issues.  We discussed the oil and gas sector, as you might imagine.  And so, it was a wide-ranging conversation, very, very positive," she said.

She also noted that their visits are to "reiterate our commitment to the prosperity of the Kurdish people within a strong and sovereign Iraq."