“The Council of Ministers will discuss the latest developments on both the non-oil revenues file and the resumption of the Region’s oil exports, as well as presenting the decisions from this week’s meeting of the federal ministerial council,” the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) said in a statement.
On Tuesday, Iraq’s Council of Ministers reviewed two reports detailing the ongoing disputes with the KRG. One report summarized the positions of the KRG and federal finance ministries regarding non-oil revenues, while the second focused on obstacles preventing the handover of oil from international oil companies (IOCs) operating in the Region.
According to the report seen by Rudaw, disagreements remain over how non-oil revenues - such as fees, service taxes, and tariffs - should be divided. The KRG argues that it is responsible for handing over 50 percent of tax, customs, and border gate income, while retaining all domestic fees. Baghdad, however, insists that 100 percent of revenues be delivered to the federal treasury, after which 50 percent would be returned to the Region.
Oil handover also remains a major sticking point. A senior source in Baghdad told Rudaw that nearly $1 billion in accumulated debts owed by the KRG to IOCs has complicated the transfer of oil to the State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO). The federal oil ministry has refused to assume responsibility for the arrears, saying there is no legal basis to do so.
An amendment to the Iraqi budget law set a temporary entitlement of $16 per barrel for production and transportation costs, to be paid to the companies until an international consultant determines the real value. However, the amendment made no provision for repayment of past debts.
Oil exports from the Kurdistan Region through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline have been suspended since March 2023, when a Paris-based arbitration court ruled in favor of Baghdad against Ankara, saying the latter had violated a 1973 pipeline agreement by allowing Erbil to begin exporting oil independently in 2014.
