Kurdistan Region withholds $6 billion USD in revenue from Iraq Central Government
On Sunday the Iraqi Oil Ministry Announced that the economic losses due to non-delivery of Iraqi Kurdistan revenues amounted to six billion dollars, adding that what is marketed by some officials in the Government of the region as “illogical and unrealistic.”
The ministry said in a statement received by Iraqinews.com, that “the losses of the Iraq economy for 2014 up to 31 May, due to non-delivery of the region for oil revenues as a result of selling of crude oil, amounted to 6 billion and 288 million dollars. The increased losses, which are expected to remain for months this year, are nearly 8 billion and 400 million dollars.”
The statement added: ”non-disclosure of the region for oil activity and refusing to deliver revenue to the federal treasury over the past years (2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013), though the region had got its full share of the federal budget by 17%, led to losses of more than $ 119 billion and about 70 million dollars. Asserting that:”the region refuse to announce the fate of the money and where to go.”
The Oil Ministry asked: ”the Turkish government to respect the sovereignty and the national wealth of the Republic of Iraq and to abide by the International Convention governing the operation of oil exports, from the Turkish port of Ceyhan, signed between the two countries in 2010″, surprising at the same time, “the selling oil to Israel”.
Nechirvan Barzani, the head of the Kurdistan Regional Government stressed (in June 4, 2014) that the Kurdistan region signed an agreement with Turkey for cooperation in the field of energy, noting that this agreement will last for fifty years and it is extendable.
Nechirvan Barzani had been hosted by the Parliament of the Kurdistan region to illustrate the process of exporting oil from the region.
The Iraqi government stresses that the Iraqi Oil Marketing Company (SOMO) is the only one authorized to sell the crude produced by the country, including the oil of Kurdistan.
SOMO warned (in a statement) all the companies, individuals and institutions from buying Iraqi crude shipment loaded on the vessel (the United Adrchib) on behalf of the Iraqi Oil Ministry of the central government.