Latest news with #Erbil-Baghdad
Rudaw Net
16-04-2025
- Business
- Rudaw Net
President Barzani, US diplomat discuss Middle East developments
A+ A- ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani met with Victoria Taylor, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Iraq and Iran, on Wednesday to discuss regional and domestic developments, as well as US relations with both Erbil and Baghdad. On the sidelines of the Sulaimani Forum, 'they discussed Erbil-Baghdad relations and the continuation of dialogue to resolve their outstanding issues,' according to a Kurdistan Region Presidency statement. 'Both sides emphasized the importance of maintaining security and stability in the region,' and the broader regional situation and its impact on Iraq and the Kurdistan Region were also addressed. Since 2014, tensions between Erbil and Baghdad have simmered over budget and oil disputes. The federal government cut the Kurdistan Region's share of the national budget that year, prompting Erbil to independently export oil and rely on the revenues to fund its public sector. However, falling oil prices and the costly war against the Islamic State (ISIS) strained the Region's finances, triggering austerity measures. Public servants faced repeated salary delays and cuts, with Baghdad now assuming responsibility for payments. The crisis deepened in March 2023, when Kurdish oil exports were suspended following an international court ruling in favor of Baghdad. The ruling found that Turkey had violated a 1973 pipeline agreement by allowing Erbil to export oil without federal approval. Despite several rounds of negotiations involving federal and regional officials, as well as international oil companies operating in the Kurdistan Region, no breakthrough has been achieved. Oil companies demand contractual clarity and payment guarantees, Baghdad insists on federal oversight, and Erbil continues to push for an agreement that safeguards its economic autonomy. The US has been actively urging both sides to restart oil exports. In a readout released Friday, the US State Department said Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani ' agreed that reopening the Iraq-Türkiye Pipeline immediately is crucial to protecting past US investments and attracting future investment.'
Shafaq News
27-02-2025
- Politics
- Shafaq News
Al-Sulaymaniyah protest: Census workers demand overdue payments
Shafaq News/ On Thursday, census enumerators in Al-Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan Region, protested outside the Iraqi Parliament office, demanding overdue wages after months of payment delays. Sarud Salam, a representative of the demonstrators, urged lawmakers to intervene. 'We call on Parliament and its representatives in Al-Sulaymaniyah to convey our demands to the relevant authorities,' he told Shafaq News. 'The Iraqi Ministry of Planning had contracted the enumerators for two months, offering a monthly wage of 250,000 IQD (approximately $170),' Salam noted, highlighting that they received November's salary, but December's payments remain outstanding. Protesters accused the Iraqi government of unfair treatment, pointing out that 'more than 27,000 enumerators in the Kurdistan Region have yet to be paid, while their counterparts in other provinces have received their wages.' They warned of escalating demonstrations if authorities fail to address their concerns. Al-Sulaymaniyah, like other areas in Iraqi Kurdistan, is grappling with a deepening financial crisis due to chronic salary delays. Despite an Erbil-Baghdad agreement on oil exports and Kurdistan's share in Iraq's recently approved budget, implementation remains stalled, prolonging the crisis.
Shafaq News
23-02-2025
- Politics
- Shafaq News
Al-Sulaymaniyah salary protests: Demands unmet, sit-in continues
Shafaq News/ On Sunday, teachers and public employees in Al-Sulaymaniyah intensified protests over delayed salary payments by setting up a tent along a key route used by oil tankers heading to Iran. 'Demonstrators, who blocked the road earlier in the day, gathered near the Bashmakh border crossing in the Arbat area, preventing the passage of oil and petroleum trucks,' Shafaq News Agency correspondent reported. 'The protest is in response to the non-payment of December 2024 salaries and the failure to implement Federal Supreme Court rulings addressing their financial crisis.' The correspondent noted that protesters vowed to continue their sit-in until their demands are met. Al-Sulaymaniyah, like other areas in Iraqi Kurdistan, is grappling with a deepening financial crisis due to chronic salary delays. Despite an Erbil-Baghdad agreement on oil exports and Kurdistan's share in Iraq's recently approved budget, implementation remains stalled, prolonging the crisis.
Shafaq News
23-02-2025
- Politics
- Shafaq News
Salary protests: Kurdish teachers block oil tankers in Al-Sulaymaniyah
Shafaq News/ On Sunday, teachers and government employees blocked roads in Arbat, Al-Sulaymaniyah Province, preventing oil tankers from reaching border crossings in a protest over unpaid salaries. 'The demonstration aimed to highlight that the Kurdistan Region's natural resources should benefit the people rather than serving the ruling authorities,' protester and teacher Ata Mohammed told Shafaq News, calling for oil revenues to be used to improve living conditions and ensure salary payments. Another protester, Adel Hassan, told Shafaq News that 'the blockade follows a 15-day strike and could extend into an open-ended sit-in if demands remain unmet.' Al-Sulaymaniyah, like other areas in the Iraqi Kurdistan, is grappling with a deepening financial crisis due to chronic salary delays. Despite an Erbil-Baghdad agreement on oil exports and Kurdistan's share in Iraq's recently approved budget, implementation remains stalled, prolonging the crisis.
Rudaw Net
06-02-2025
- Business
- Rudaw Net
DNO reports ‘stellar production' in Kurdistan Region 2024 revenues
Also in ECONOMY Iraqi, Kurdish PMs welcome passage of amendment to federal budget law Erbil-Baghdad financial talks expected to conclude soon: Ministry KRG says Iraqi court deems its contacts with oil companies valid Iraq underutilizes vast oil reserves: Former oil minister A+ A- ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Norwegian oil firm DNO on Thursday said that 2024 amounted to a year of 'stellar production' with an increase in profits from the Kurdistan Region's oil despite the Iraq-Turkey pipeline remaining closed. At its flagship Tawke and Peshkabir fields, DNO increased production 'by 70 percent year-on-year to 78,600 boepd [barrels of oil equivalent per day] in 2024, with oil sold at its Fish Khabur terminal as the Iraq-Turkiye export pipeline remained shut in,' the company said in a statement. The Tawke field, which DNO holds a 75 percent stake in, generated $10 million in profits per month, and while no new wells were drilled on site, oil output upped 'by bringing three previously drilled wells onstream and by workovers and interventions on more than 20 other wells across the license,' according to the statement. Its oil was sold for an average of $35 per barrel. 'Our Kurdistan team is doing a terrific job. Maintaining, never mind increasing, production from mature carbonate reservoirs without new drilling is rare, even exceptional,' said DNO's Executive Chairman Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani. The Kurdistan Region is preparing to resume oil exports after the Iraqi parliament approved an amendment to the federal budget law, which increases compensation for international oil companies (IOCs) in the Region. The amendment raised oil production and transportation costs to $16 per barrel, a substantial raise from the $6.90 set in the federal budget that was passed in June 2023. On Wednesday, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) instructed its natural resources ministry to coordinate with oil companies and relevant bodies to restart oil exports 'as soon as possible.' Oil exports from the Kurdistan Region through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline have been suspended since March 2023 after 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 independent oil exports in 2014. The KRG has struggled to pay the salaries of its civil servants on time and in full for a decade due to a financial crisis that was exacerbated by the halt of Kurdish oil exports. Erbil is reliant on its local income and federal budget funds.
