Budget amendment takes Iraq one step toward northern export restart

Iraq's Parliament has passed a budget law amendment designed to help restart northern oil exports — an initial step that now ushers in an uncertain new phase of further negotiation and deal-making between Baghdad, Erbil, and international oil companies operating fields in Iraqi Kurdistan.

The legislation had appeared to be in danger of sinking under the weight of political controversy in late January, when some MPs tried to make significant changes that were unacceptable to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). But the bill that passed on Feb. 2 was the version first approved by the Iraqi Cabinet and endorsed by the KRG, according to multiple MPs.