ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A group of Kurdish lawmakers submitted a petition requesting Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi to increase the Kurdistan Region’s share of crude oil for domestic fuel production from 50,000 to 140,000 barrels per day (bpd), as the region faces an ongoing gasoline shortage and high prices.
Sipan Sherwani, a Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) lawmaker, secured the signatures of 169 members of parliament as of Wednesday, including lawmakers from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), Kurdistan Islamic Union, as well as Shiite and Sunni representatives.
“Today, the document was formally referred by the second deputy speaker of parliament [Farhad Atrushi] to the prime minister for a decision,” Salwan Akreyi, a KDP lawmaker, told Rudaw's Hastyar Qadir on Thursday.
This comes as the Kurdistan Region faces acute fuel shortages following suspensions in production during the war since late February as well as renewed escalations in mid-July. Kurdistan Region Prime minister Barzani in late July stepped in to instate price caps on gasoline which have fallen short of meeting the Region’s consumer demands amid intermittent closures of gas stations and insufficient supply from Baghdad.
The lawmakers are calling on the federal government to take urgent measures to address the gasoline crisis in the Kurdistan Region by increasing its crude oil quota to 140,000 bpd.
PUK lawmaker Sarwa Mohammed told Rudaw on Thursday that her committee signed the request “in the interest of the people.”
Under an August 2025 agreement between Erbil and Baghdad, the Kurdistan Regional Government retains 50,000 bpd of crude oil from fields in the Region for domestic use, while the remainder is handed to the federal State Organization for Marketing of Oil (SOMO), according to a 2025 statement published by the Kurdistan Region Ministry of Natural Resources
The Kurdistan Region Ministry of Natural Resources clarified on Tuesday that the 2025 agreement outlining 50,000 bpd allocation was “the result of a temporary agreement” and did not represent what it considers a fair share based on the Region’s population.
“The share of the Kurdistan Region’s crude oil for domestic consumption, according to all criteria, should be more than double the current amount,” the ministry said in a statement.
Basim Mohammed Khudair, Iraq’s Oil Minister, said the first week of August that Baghdad was prepared to provide the Kurdistan Region with its domestic fuel needs at a subsidized national rate “if the Kurdistan Regional Government hands over the 50,000 barrels of oil,” in reference to the current agreement in which the KRG currently manages its petroleum products independently.
The gasoline crisis has been worsened by disruptions to oil production and refining in the Kurdistan Region following repeated attacks on energy infrastructure.
The Region’s crude output has fallen sharply, limiting the supply available to local refineries and contributing to shortages.
Prime minister Barzani introduced measures including fuel price caps and a pilot electronic-card system for subsidized gasoline in Erbil continuing into August, but shortages, price surges and long queues continue to persist.
