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Iraqi oil minister says Kurdish oil exports to resume soon

Feb 9, 2010, 15:50 GMT

Baghdad - Oil exports from northern Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region will resume 'in the near future,' Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani said Tuesday. 'Oil belongs to all Iraqis and oil revenues are divided over all of the provinces,' al-Shahristani told reporters. Exports from northern Iraq's Kurdish region had halted following a dispute between Baghdad and the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) over the KRG's contracts with foreign companies to export the oil. The Iraqi government said that these agreements had been signed illegally, 'without the knowledge of the federal government.' Al-Shahristani said that it would 'take a long time' to find a solution to the question of those contracts, 'but exporting oil will resume in the near future.' The resumption of exports did not depend on a resolution to the dispute over the contracts, the minister said, saying the exports could be handled by Iraq's state oil company. 'We need every barrel produced,' al-Shahristani said, saying the Oil Ministry would work with the KRG 'in a positive spirit.'

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Iraqi oil minister says Kurdish oil exports to resume soon

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