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Iraq's Kurdistan region Presidency rejects federal court's oil and gas ruling

February 28, 2022 at 8:12 pm

Workers working at the Kawergosk refinery [Reza/Getty Images]

The presidency of Iraq’s Kurdistan region rejected a decision issued by the Federal Court in Baghdad on its oil and gas activities, deeming it “unacceptable”, Anadolu reported.

In a statement issued following a meeting between the Kurdish president, parliament speaker, prime minister and head of the Judicial Council in Erbil yesterday said: “The Kurdistan region will exhaust all available means in order to safeguard the Kurdistan region’s constitutional power and rights.”

“[The ruling] is driven by special interests, especially at a time when Iraq is moving through a critical political stage,” the statement said.

On 15 February, the Federal Supreme Court of Iraq; the highest judicial authority in the country, issued a ruling in which it deemed the oil and gas law regulating the oil industry in Iraqi Kurdistan “unconstitutional” and demanded Kurdish authorities hand over their crude supplies to the central government in Baghdad.

Decisions issued by the Federal Supreme Court of Iraq are final and are not subject to appeal before the Federal Court of Cassation.

For years, the Kurdistan region has been exporting oil produced in the region in isolation from Baghdad. But Baghdad considers this a violation of the federal constitution.

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