ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - An Iraqi Council of Ministers meeting on Tuesday began without the long-awaited agreement between Erbil and Baghdad over oil exports and salary disbursements on its agenda, despite reports of progress in negotiations.
According to the official meeting schedule seen by Rudaw, the oil and salary issue does not appear among the topics for discussion. The session began before any indication that the item would be added.
However, a source from the Council of Ministers in Baghdad told Rudaw on the condition of anonymity that if the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) delegation and federal authorities reach a last-minute deal before the session ends, it could still be proposed as a resolution.
Cabinet rules allow for urgent items to be introduced at the end of a meeting by either a minister or the prime minister’s office.
Salary payments to more than 1.2 million KRG public employees have been suspended since late May after Baghdad halted budget transfers, citing Erbil’s failure to deliver its share of oil to the State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) and alleging the KRG exceeded its 12.67 percent allocation in the 2025 federal budget.
The crisis has been exacerbated by the ongoing halt in Kurdistan Region oil exports through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline, which has been offline since March 2023 following an international arbitration ruling.
Despite the item’s absence from Tuesday’s agenda, Iraqi state newspaper al-Sabah reported earlier in the day that negotiations between the two sides had made significant progress and were “close” to reaching a resolution. The paper said progress had accelerated in recent days to finalize a deal based on the constitution.
On Monday, a senior KRG delegation arrived in Baghdad to resume talks with federal officials. A breakthrough would mark a major step forward in resolving the protracted financial dispute that has led to repeated salary delays across the Region.
Iraq’s parliament announced on Sunday that “solutions have been reached” on key disputes and said they would be discussed “in the coming days.” The statement followed meetings between Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani and top Kurdish officials, including Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani and Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) leader Masoud Barzani.
A key sticking point in the oil negotiations remains the volume Erbil must commit to SOMO. Baghdad has demanded 400,000 barrels per day (bpd), while Erbil has offered 280,000 bpd as a starting point, according to informed sources.
Hastyar Qadir contributed to this report.
