Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq (gov.krd) - Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister, Nechirvan Barzani, yesterday in Erbil met members of the Iraqi Parliament’s Oil and Gas Committee.

During the meeting, which was also attended by the Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani and a number of ministers, both sides discussed the agreement reached last December between the Federal Government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government on oil export. They also discussed issues related to oil and gas law, the role of the Committee in following up and monitoring the latest agreement as well as all other oil and gas issues in Iraq.

The Prime Minister reiterated that the Kurdistan Region deals with hydrocarbon file in line with the rights enshrined for the Region in Iraq’s Federal Constitution. He said that the Kurdistan Regional Government, throughout the phases of exploration, production and export of its oil, has not committed any unconstitutional act. He pointed out that Kurdistan Region oil policy is fully based on the Region’s constitutional rights. For this reason, he urged the Committee to monitor, observe and follow up the entire process in the Kurdistan Region.

Prime Minister Barzani stressed KRG’s commitment to the agreement reached with the Federal Government of Iraq, hoping to reach a full agreement with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi on settling all the outstanding issues between the two sides. The Prime Minister urged that the Iraqi Parliament’s Oil and Gas Committee to play a role as a third party, monitoring the implementation of the agreement. He expressed Kurdistan Regional Government’s willingness to cooperate and coordinate with the Committee in any manner that it deems appropriate.

The Head and members of the Iraqi Parliamentary Oil and Gas Committee expressed their pleasure for visiting Kurdistan Region, where they held a number of meetings. They called for greater cooperation and coordination between their committee and the Kurdistan Parliament Oil and Gas Committee as well as the Kurdistan Regional Government’s Ministry of Natural Resources and other relevant bodies. They stressed that the Committee will play an efficient role in helping resolve the outstanding issues between both regional and federal governments in order to serve the public interest of Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.