Meed | US urges Iraq to resolve dispute over Kurdish oil

US urges Iraq to resolve dispute over Kurdish oil

18 August 2022

The US State Department has urged Iraq’s federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to find a way to support “existing and future” investments and resolve their ongoing disputes.

“We have been and we encourage the parties to determine a way forward that supports existing and future investments,” spokesperson Ned Price said during a briefing on 16 August.

"Any dispute between Baghdad and Erbil has the potential to set back those interests and the interest that we do share with the people of Iraq and Kurdish people as well,” he added.

US engagement

His remarks came a day after the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee called for the “highest-level” US engagement in Iraqi Kurdistan.

“We urge you immediately to engage at a high level with the KRG and the Iraqi government to safeguard the economic stability of the [Kurdistan Region of Iraq],” it said in a letter to President Joe Biden’s administration.

The senate’s letter was written in the wake of an announcement by Iraq’s oil ministry that said three US energy companies will have to stop tendering for projects in Iraqi Kurdistan in compliance with a decision made by Iraq’s Supreme Court in February.

Exiting Kurdistan

On 4 July, Iraq’s oil ministry said Schlumberger, Baker Hughes, and Halliburton are in the process of liquidating and exiting existing tenders and contracts in the region.

The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee said it was concerned about the oil ministry’s “selective application” of the court’s ruling to “certain” American companies.

Iraq's Federal Supreme Court in February found the Kurdistan Region’s oil and gas law to be “unconstitutional", therefore striking down the legal basis for the independence of the region’s oil and gas sector.

The KRG responded to the decision by saying that the court’s ruling was “unconstitutional” and “unjust".

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Wil Crisp