Talabani, Barazani launch oil exports from Kurdistan

ARBIL / IraqiNews.com: President of Iraq, Jalal Talabani, and President of the Iraqi Kurdistan, Massoud Barazani, on Monday started oil export from the region in a symbolic celebration at Arbil city. The federal and regional presidents opened the export valve together in a step that ended a period of differences with the federal cabinet in Baghdad regarding the region’s merit to export oil. “This step supports the whole of Iraq,” Nejervan Barazani, the Kurdish regional premier said in a speech during the ceremony attended by IraqiNews.com news agency. “Oil contracts signed by Kurdistan should be perceived as a constitutional and legal right,” he said. “Iraqis would have had better standards of living if the oil and gas law had been approved,” he explained. “The delay in enacting the oil and gas law is due to political, not technical, reasons” he proceeded. Barazani called on the federal government in Baghdad to “employ respect-based dialogue with all the provinces to solve problems.” “The time of wars has gone,” he noted. As a first step, the Iraqi Kurdistan region will export 100,000 barrels per day. MH (S) / SS 1