Analysis: Iraq’s oil disputes remain unresolved
The recent Baghdad-Erbil oil deal has inspired optimism, but it avoids key details at the heart of big issues – control of territory and oil rights – on which neither side wants to compromise.
Iraqi Oil Minister Adil Abdulmahdi (left), KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani (center), and KRG Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani (right), in Erbil on Nov. 13, reach a deal on restarting revenue sharing payments and exports. (Source: Kurdistan Regional Government)
Leaders in Baghdad and Erbil are still far away from achieving a long-lasting resolution to Iraq's oil policy disputes, even though the tides of optimism have swelled in the past few weeks.
There is reason to be hopeful. In November, the autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) began participating in federal Iraqi oil exports for the first time since 2013, and began receiving federal budget payments. On Dec. 2, the Iraqi Cabinet ratified a political agreement that could help move that cooperation into 2015 and beyond.
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