Kurdish contractors threaten export cutoff over payment delay

Oil companies operating in Iraqi Kurdistan want to cut exports because of delayed payments from Baghdad, exposing the frailty of a budding reconciliation between the semi-autonomous region and the central government.

Finance Minister Rafa al-Issawi formally approved a $541 million cash transfer to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on Thursday, according to two officials with direct knowledge of the matter – a step toward implementing a Sept. 13 deal, brokered by U.S. officials in Washington and Baghdad, which calls on Kurdistan to increase exports and Baghdad to pay Kurdish contractors for the associated costs.