Iran, KRG clinches vast energy deal: Official

ARBIL - Anadolu Agency

The regional government has been embroiled in a long-running row with the central government in Iraq over shares of oil revenues. AFP Photo

Iran and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) have reached an agreement over a natural gas-for-crude oil deal that includes the construction of two pipelines between the territories, a Kurdish official has said.

Abullah Akrayi, the KRG official responsible for Iranian affairs, told journalists that a delegation led by Rostem Qasimi, Iran’s delegate for trade relations with Iraq, made the deal with the regional government’s energy minister, Ashti Hawrami, on April 27, Anadolu Agency reported.

The agreement proposes the construction of two pipelines between the Kurdish region of northern Iraq and Iran, under which the regional government would receive between 3 million and 4 million liters of refined oil fuel and natural gas in return for crude oil.

The regional government has been embroiled in a long-running row with the central government in Iraq over shares of oil revenues, with Baghdad opposing the export of stored Kurdish oil from Ceyhan, claiming it would bypass the country’s national oil company in violation of Iraq’s Constitution. Some 1.5 million barrels of oil from the KRG is currently being stored in Ceyhan port.