Kurdistan negotiating team reveals agreements with Baghdad regarding budget, oil

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) will deliver 250,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) to Baghdad as part of an agreement that also includes the payment of financial dues within the framework of the country's fiscal budget for 2020, KRG Finance Minister Awat Sheikh Janab said on Thursday.

“We have decided to deliver 250,000 barrels of oil per day to Baghdad,” Janab said during a joint press conference in Erbil with members of the Kurdish negotiating delegation that has visited the Iraqi capital in recent weeks.

“We agreed on a formula for the payment of debts,” he added, pointing out that “most of our demands have been met in agreements with Baghdad within the draft financial budget.”

According to Janab, both Erbil and Baghdad had “reached an agreement on budget and oil.”

The KRG Finance Minister said the talks between the Kurdish delegation and officials from the Federal Government of Iraq were “successful,” noting that the reduction of the Kurdistan Region’s share of the national budget had been “a political decision.”

Erbil–Baghdad negotiations struck a pause in early October when central and southern provinces in Iraq organized widespread anti-government protests. So far, Iraqi security forces have killed over 400 demonstrators and wounded at least 16,000 others.

Related Article: Death toll in Iraq protests reaches 460, over 17,400 injured: Iraqi rights commission

The KRG negotiating delegation resumed talks with Baghdad last week and, following a second visit on Monday, reached an agreement with the federal government regarding oil revenue sharing, according to Iraq’s Oil Minister, Thamer al-Ghadhban.

“If Baghdad is committed to the agreement, there will be no problem regarding the payment of the salaries of employees in Kurdistan,” Janab said on Thursday.