Kurds Say Iraq Must Pay Foreign Oil Companies in Kurdish Region

Iraq’s central government must pay money owed to international oil companies working in the country’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region, the territory’s prime minister said.

The Kurdish region will continue to supply crude to Iraq’s main export pipeline if the Kurds can reach an accord with the government in Baghdad about the payments, Nechirvan Barzani said in a statement posted today on the Kurdistan Regional Government’s website. A Kurdish delegation will visit Baghdad soon to discuss the matter, Barzani said.

Oil producers including Total SA, Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. have recently agreed to do business with Kurdish authorities, angering the central government, which is disputing with the KRG over how to share revenue from oil produced at Kurdish fields.

To contact the reporter on this story: Khalid Al-Ansary in Baghdad at kalansary@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stephen Voss at sev@bloomberg.net