KRG says lifting trade embargo prerequisite for allowing Baghdad to use pipelines
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Baghdad is in talks with Erbil to export some of Kirkuk’s oil through the Kurdistan Region’s pipelines with Turkey, Iraq’s oil minister said Saturday, while a senior Kurdish official said that the federal government must lift the trade embargo on the Region before an agreement can be reached. Iraqi oil minister Hayyan Abdul Ghani told The New Region that federal government is in talks with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to transfer oil from the Region’s pipelines to Kirkuk’s Ceyhan pipeline, which flows into Turkey, to resume exports from the key conduit. Since the US and Israel launched their military campaign against Iran in late February, Tehran in retaliation has targeted neighbouring countries and shut the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway responsible for one fifth of the world’s oil. Iraq has been severely affected by the disruption in oil transport through the Gulf. ...