Cash needs may drive energy deal with Kurds

Baghdad’s desperation for more cash to rebuild after years of sanctions and war could provide a long-awaited catalyst for a deal with minority Kurds on oil and gas exports. Iraq’s Oil Ministry on Monday rejected an $8 billion Kurdish plan to fill the Nabucco pipeline with gas for Europe, the latest spat in a long feud with the largely autonomous Kurdistan region over control of massive oil and gas reserves.

But it has made a concession on oil exports from the region, after two years of deadlock. “Iraq is desperate for oil export money and hard currency, a potential driver for a deal with the Kurdish region that is much stronger than anything we’ve seen previously,” said Samuel Ciszuk, analyst at IHS Global Insight in London. Facing domestic pressure to boost income hit by the oil price slump and to increase sluggish output, Oil Minister Hussain Al-Shahristani gave permission earlier this month for the Kurdish
north to start modest oil exports of 60,000 barrels per day from June 1. The Kurdish region said the flow could quickly reach 100,000 bpd.

Kuwait Times