Iraqi Kurdistan seals Turkey deal

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq has finalized a deal under which it will pump oil to Turkey.

“The formalities were recently completed… the finalization of such cooperation is a great achievement for Iraq and the Kurdistan region and this process will bring us together,” Nechirvan Idris Barzani, the KRG premier, told a conference in Arbil on Monday.

“For the first time the Kurdistan region will become a net contributor to the Iraqi national income and that is why we need to sit down with our colleagues in the Iraqi government as equal partners,” Barzani added.

On November 27, Baghdad warned Ankara over the opening of a new oil export pipeline from the autonomous Kurdish region.

The Iraqi government “threatens in case this signature happens bilateral relations between Baghdad and Ankara will be damaged severely,” said Ali al-Musawi, a top advisor to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

The report comes days after Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with Barzani in Ankara to discuss the construction of a new oil pipeline from the Kurdistan region to Turkey.

The pipeline is said to be projected to carry up to 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) to Turkey.