KDP bloc: Baghdad included Kurdistan oil production and transport costs in 2024 Budget

Shafaq News / Vian Sabri, the head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) bloc in the Iraqi Parliament, stated on Tuesday that the federal government has included the costs of producing and transporting crude oil from the Kurdistan Region in the draft of the general budget law for 2024.

Sabri said that the entitlements of the oil companies are included in the investment budget, explaining that “oil extraction in the Kurdistan Region requires higher costs, which have been accounted for in the general budget.”

“The amount included is 2.7 trillion IQD as entitlements for the oil companies operating in the Kurdistan Region, and approximately 1.2 trillion IQD for the transportation of the Region’s oil,” she added.

“We always demand a higher allocation, considering the rugged terrain in the Kurdistan Region and the challenging extraction environment faced by the oil companies.”

She pointed out that the Kurdistan Region produces 400,000 barrels of crude oil daily, and exports are coordinated between Baghdad, Erbil, and Ankara.

Turkiye halted the export of 450,000 barrels per day from the Kurdistan Region via the Iraq-Turkiye pipeline on March 25, 2023, following a ruling by the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris in favor of Baghdad in an arbitration case.

On May 30, the Parliamentary Finance Committee confirmed that neither the committee nor the House of Representatives intends to return the 2024 budget tables to the federal government.

According to Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, the 2024 budget is estimated at 211 trillion IQD, with 62 trillion IQD allocated for employee salaries. In comparison, the 2023 budget was 199 trillion IQD, with 59 trillion IQD for salaries.

Al-Sudani noted that the projected revenues for the 2024 budget are 144.336 trillion IQD while expenditures amount to 210.936 trillion IQD, resulting in a deficit of 63.599 trillion IQD.