Kurdistan region to increase oil exports

The Kurdistan Region will begin within the next month to increase its oil exports to 200 thousand barrels per day, Spokesman of Kurdistan alliance, Moa'd al-Tayyeb announced . Tayyeb said in a statement to the National Iraqi News Agency (NINA), Saturday, "The problem of oil between the center and the region, resulted in the suspension of oil exports from the region, and this is hurting the Iraqi economy and the relationship between the governments in Baghdad and Erbil." The agreement between the Governments of the region and the Center on the export of oil, and pay dues of oil companies, will pave the way for the law of the oil and gas, which needs to be consensus among the political parties, and the enactment of this law will give assurance to the oil companies to work in Iraq and thereby increase investment that will benefit Iraq. He added. He explained that the budget of 2012 stipulates that oil exports from the region is 175 thousand barrels per day and the central government pays dues of the oil companies operating in the province, but the province will export 200 thousand barrels per day during the next month, noting that "export oil benefit the state budget with billions of dollars that Iraq needs in the process of reconstruction and providing services." The central government and the government of Kurdistan region agreed to pay dues of the oil companies in the Kurdistan region and continuing export of oil and raise the production to 200 thousand barrels per day. The Kurdistan Regional Government had threatened to stop oil exports in September in case of non-payment of dues of the oil companies operating in the region.