IRBIL
Iran signed an agreement with Iraq's Kurdish Regional Government for oil and natural gas on Sunday, according to a Kurdish official.
Abullah Akrayi, the Kurdish Regional Government official responsible for Iran affairs, told journalists that a delegation led by Rostem Qasimi, Iran's delegate for trade relations with Iraq, made the deal with the regional government's energy minister Ashti Hawrami.
The agreement proposes the construction of two pipelines between the Kurdish region of northern Iraq and Iran, and the regional government would receive between 3 and 4 million liters of refined oil fuel and natural gas in return for sending crude oil to Iran.
Currently, 1.5 million barrels of oil from the Kurdish Regional Government is stored in Turkey's Ceyhan port, waiting for the approval of Iraq's central government to be exported.
The regional government has been embroiled in a long-running row with the central government in Iraq over shares of oil revenues, with Baghdad opposing the export of stored Kurdish oil from Ceyhan, claiming it would bypass the country’s national oil company in violation of Iraq’s constitution.
englishnews@aa.com.tr
