Maliki: Time to settle Kurd oil deals row

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has called for an end to a bitter row over oil contracts brokered by Iraqi Kurdistan.

In a rare direct reference to the oil feud between Baghdad and Kurdistan regional government, Maliki said on Sunday that he has discussed the issue with the region's Prime Minister Barham Salih.

"We said it is time to look at this file and settle it with flexibility and realism, in order to preserve rights and interests in these contracts," Reuters quoted Maliki as saying on the government's national media center website. "We hope to end this crisis."

Iraq's central government in Baghdad considers Kurdish contracts illegal; Kurds demand reimbursement for exports from Kurdish fields.

Companies such as Norway's DNO, Turkey's Genel Enerji and London-based Heritage have signed production-sharing agreements with the local Kurdish government in northern Iraq.

The controversy over the contracts signed by Kurdistan's government has fueled investor questions about the risks of doing business in the oil-rich country.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=115294§ionid=351020201.