Iraqi Govt Claims Oil Deal ‘In Principle’ With Kurds

According to officials familiar with the situation, a Kurdish delegation to Baghdad came out of a meeting with the Finance and Oil Ministers with an agreement “in principle” on oil revenue sharing.

This is a hugely important deal for the Iraqi Kurds, as the oil sharing deal is the vast majority of their regional government’s revenue. The Iraqi Kurds used to try to sell some oil on their own, but are now forbidden to do so.

The deal reportedly will see the Kurdish region produce 250,000 barrels of oil per day, an increase from current levels. In return, the central government would give the Kurds a bigger share of the national budget.

Before the 2017 Iraqi Kurdistan referendum on secession, there was substantial revenue sharing from the central government for the oil produced, but this declined in the immediate aftermath, when the government reclaimed contested territory militarily and greatly cut back revenue sharing.