Erbil : Baghdad and al-Shahristani’s position were positive

, headed by Hussein al-Shahristani, deputy prime minister for energy affairs .

A statement by the Presidency of Kurdistan Regional Government during the meeting that many proposals and views have been submitted by both sides to address the problems of oil and Budget , as the position of the delegation of the Federal Government , especially, Hussain al-Shahristani during the meeting was positive .

In another aspect of the meeting , Kurdistan and federal government delegations discussed projects that have been exchanged between the two sides during the past two weeks , as the two sides submitted several new proposals , it was decided that a delegation of the federal government would transfer the results of Monday’s meeting to al-Maliki , and after studying the proposals by both sides another meeting would be held to reach a suitable and acceptable solution to everyone in the interest of Iraq .

The delegation of Kurdistan Regional Government met in Baghdad, Prime Minister , Nuri al-Maliki as the challenges facing Iraq were discussed .

During the meeting , the need to reach a solution to the outstanding issues and speed up the approval of the general budget of the country have been confirmed.

Crude from Kurdistan used to reach world markets through Baghdad's infrastructure, but exports via that channel dried up due to a row over payments for oil companies operating in the northern enclave.

Since then, the Kurds have been exporting smaller quantities by truck across the border whilst building the pipeline to Turkey and negotiating a multi-billion dollar energy deal with Ankara.

The landmark deal laid the ground for development of the infrastructure for Kurdistan to export some 2 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil to world markets and at least 10 billion cubic metres per year of gas to Turkey.

The Kurdish pipeline ties into an existing network controlled by Baghdad that links the northern Kirkuk oilfields to Ceyhan. Both are using the same pumping station, which has caused some problems.

The Kurds plan to install their own pumping station, but it has yet to be commissioned and will take several months to put in place, the sources said.

In Istanbul last week, Barzani and Hawrami met Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, who reiterated his commitment to the deal with Kurdistan, according to a statement on the Kurdistan Regional Government's website.