KRG Deputy PM: Oil was Kurds’ trump card in Baghdad talks

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—Oil was a strong trump card in the hands of Kurds in their recent talks with Iraq that led to a deal between Erbil and Baghdad on revenue sharing and the status of the Peshmerga forces, Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani said on Wednesday.

“I do not agree with the (opinion) that these negotiations and the results are an indication of the failure of the Kurdish oil policy,” Talabani told reporters. “KRG's oil policy has not failed.”

Talabani said that without a successful oil policy the Kurds wouldn’t have been able to enter negotiations with the federal government on strong footing.

Talabani said the Kurdish government would still be able to sell its oil after it delivers the amount of oil agreed on in the Baghdad agreement.

“In addition to the 250,000 barrels of oil we give to Baghdad, we will also feed our refineries and will use the rest to pay back our debts through the sales we have made previously,” he added.

Talabani said that the deal would help to reduce tensions that had increased between Iraq and the autonomous Kurdish region in recent months.

“With our agreement with Baghdad we passed the stage of tensions between the two sides and we are in a transitional period which is a transitional solution,” he said.