Baghdad declares oil deals signed by Iraqi Kurdistan authorities null

The government of Iraq has declared a number of energy-related agreements signed by the authorities of the autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan region in the country’s northeast null and void, stating they contradict the Iraqi constitution and rulings issued by federal courts, according to a statement from the Iraqi oil ministry.

The ministry clarified that it does not "recognize the procedures associated with the signing by the natural resources ministry of Iraqi Kurdistan of contracts to attract investment for the development of the Miran and Tophana-Kurdamir fields in Sulaymaniyah province," stating that these actions by the autonomous region’s authorities "defy rulings issued by the Supreme Court in 2012 and 2019, which were later upheld by the country’s Federal Court of Appeal."

"Despite Iraq’s need for natural gas and the importance of boosting investment in the gas sector, the actions taken by local authorities [of Iraqi Kurdistan] breach the Iraqi constitution, since, under the main law, the country’s mineral resources are the collective property of the Iraqi people," the statement said. All energy investment contracts "must be handled by the federal government," the ministry emphasized.

The investment deals in question involve "tens of billions of dollars," the Iraqi oil ministry added. Based on available data, the contracts for developing the two fields in Sulaymaniyah province are valued at approximately $110 billion.