PUK leader supports exporting Kurdistan's oil via SOMO
Shafaq News / The leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, Bafel Talabani, voiced his support on Sunday for resuming the export of oil through the Iraqi Oil Marketing Company "SOMO."
In a statement, Talabani said that in order to ensure the future of his people and prevent major problems and crises, it is time to make the right decision and sell Kurdistan's oil through SOMO, which would consolidate all oil revenues from various parts of Iraq into one fund.
Talabani also called for defining the Kurdistan Region's share of the Iraqi budget and imports and including it in the salaries of the region's employees and retirees.
Additionally, he suggested linking the fuel and oil distribution system for Kurdistan to Iraq, selling it to citizens at the same Iraqi price.
Talabani added that there should be a representative from Kurdistan Region in SOMO and the overall Iraqi oil and gas system, as part of the management and decision-making process.
"The Kurdistan National Union has been seeking to reach an agreement with Baghdad and end the disputes for years," Talabani stated. "The correct approach is coordination and joint work, not distancing ourselves and deepening the problems. Internal disagreements and individualism weaken our entity and expose our region to danger."
The Iraqi Oil Ministry announced yesterday that there is a preliminary agreement to resume oil exports from the Kurdistan Region through SOMO after it was suspended due to a Paris court ruling.
Ministry spokesman, Asim Jihad, told Shafaq News Agency, "There is a preliminary agreement to resume oil export operations from the Kurdistan region through SOMO," but added that the agreement needs the approval of the federal government to be ratified.
Jihad went on to explain that the ministry wants to expedite the resumption of oil exports from the region and then resolve the existing disputes between the government and the region regarding other issues. He emphasized that the region has obligations and contracted companies for oil extraction, and it has commitments to countries that import crude oil from it, which are paid monthly.
"These matters need to be discussed, and mechanisms need to be put in place to reach an agreement between the two parties later," Jihad concluded, noting that the daily suspension of oil exports will harm Iraq's federal budget, including the region's oil revenue, and also harm the Iraqi citizens in the Kurdistan Region.
On Saturday, March 25, the federal Oil Ministry announced that it had won an arbitration case against Turkey over the export of crude oil from the Kurdistan Region via the Turkish port of Ceyhan.
The suspension of the Kurdistan Region's crude oil exports and the northern Kirkuk fields was imposed after the country won a long-term arbitration case against Turkey, dating back to 2014, claiming that Ankara violated a joint agreement by allowing the Kurdistan Regional Government to export oil through a pipeline to the Turkish port of Ceyhan.
