President Masoud Barzani condemns Iraqi top court's ruling on Kurdistan's oil, gas sector

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – President Masoud Barzani, the head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), has condemned as "purely political" the Iraqi Federal Supreme Court's ruling on Tuesday that the Kurdistan Regional Government regulating its oil and gas sector is unconstitutional.

"The Federal Supreme Court's decision regarding Kurdistan Region's oil and gas is purely political and contrary to" Iraq's federal constitution and system, Barzani stated.

In its ruling, the top court said the Kurdistan Region Government (KRG) is obligated to "hand over all oil production from oil fields in the Kurdistan Region and other areas from which the Ministry of Natural Resources extracted oil” to the federal government.

"We hope that the governments of Iraq and the Kurdistan Region will be able to overcome the obstacles and agree on the oil and gas issue," Barzani added, affirming that "the Kurdistan Region will defend its constitutional rights with all its might."

The KRG also denounced the FSC's decision as "unfair, unconstitutional, contrary to the constitutional rights of the Kurdistan Region and unacceptable." It added that the court investigated the issue further and considered Kurdistan Region's "the demands."

The KRG "will not give up the rights of the Kurdistan Region stipulated in the Iraqi constitution” and would continue efforts to resolve the issue. The Erbil government would also take legal action to "protect all oil and gas contracts."