Iraq's Kurdish authorities rebuff accusation they are blocking use of oil pipeline
Iraq's Kurdish authorities said on Sunday that Baghdad had failed to address security and economic challenges facing their oil sector, rejecting an accusation that they were refusing to allow crude exports through a regional pipeline. The statement came after Iraq's oil ministry said the Kurdistan Regional Government had refused to let it use a pipeline as an alternative route for crude flows disrupted by the Iran conflict , accusing authorities there of putting in place arbitrary conditions. The oil ministry's comments "distort the facts" and ignore the issues affecting the region, including repeated attacks on oil and gas infrastructure that have forced production offline, the KRG's Ministry of Natural Resources said in a statement. "Outlaw militias have made all of the Kurdistan Region's oil, gas and energy fields targets of their attacks," the ministry said, adding that Baghdad had taken no effective steps to stop the assaults. ...