Former MP Rasul Radhi said Baghdad and Erbil are still in disagreement over oil wells and fields discovered after 2003. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) believes these resources fall under its authority and should not be controlled by the federal government in Baghdad.
Radhi explained that the dispute is linked to Iraq’s oil and gas law, which has not yet been passed. He said the proposed law states that oil wells and fields discovered and operating before 2003 would fall under the federal government’s authority.
However, the Kurds believe that oil wells and fields discovered after 2003 fall under the Kurdistan Region’s control. This difference has become a major point of disagreement between Baghdad and Erbil.
Radhi added that Kurdish officials consider most of the oil wells currently operating and producing oil for sale and export to have been discovered after 2003. They want to keep these fields under the region’s authority rather than place them under the federal government, continuing the dispute between the two sides.