ERBIL, Iraq, April 12 (UPI) -- The Kurdish government has received a draft law from the central government in Baghdad about oil and gas revenue sharing, the Kurdish prime minister said.
Kurdish authorities moved in opposition to the central government by signing independent production contracts with foreign oil companies. The row froze exports of Kurdish oil shortly after starting in June 2009.
Kurdish Prime Minister Barham Salih said his government presented an export statement to the Finance Ministry for 5 million barrels of oil delivered to the state oil marketing agency.
"The Kurdistan Regional Government expects to receive from Baghdad its first payment for the Kurdistan region contractors, as previously agreed with Prime Minister (Nouri) al-Maliki," he said in a statement.
Salih added that officials from Baghdad and Ankara met to discuss shipping oil from the south of Iraq to Turkey and Europe.
The Kurdish leader also noted that he received a proposed draft from Maliki's government that addresses revenue sharing and other "important oil and gas issues."
"The planned legislation will address oil and gas revenue distribution policy and improved oil exports," he added.
