Iraq says Kurdish oil deals need Baghdad approval

BAGHDAD -Iraq's central government warned authorities in the semiautonomous Kurdish region on Monday that their oil deals with Turkey must have Baghdad's approval.

The statement came a day after Iraqi Kurds announced a deal with Ankara that would allow them to export oil through Turkey to the international market, bypassing Baghdad.

"We have no problem with any deals, but they have to be according to the Iraqi constitution and laws that govern relations between Baghdad and the Kurdish region," said Ali al-Moussawi, media adviser to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

The Iraqi Kurds and the Baghdad government are at loggerheads over the right to develop and export the north's natural resources. Baghdad says the region has no right to sign deals unilaterally and that exports must go through state-run pipelines, but Kurds argue that the constitution gives them the right to sign deals without consulting Baghdad.

Since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, the Kurds have signed scores of oil deals. Baghdad considers the deals illegal and has blacklisted the companies involved.

In early 2011, the two sides struck a tentative deal by which the Kurds send the oil to Baghdad, which sells it, and each side then takes 50 percent of the revenues. But last month the Kurds halted oil exports over a payment row with Baghdad.

On Sunday, Kurdish Natural Resources Minister Ashti Hawrami announced plans for building a million-barrel oil pipeline in the next 12 months for oil to go through Turkey, as well as another pipeline for gas. He also announced plans to barter crude oil with refined petroleum products.

Iraq sits on top of 143.1 billion barrels of proven reserves.—

Associated Press Writer Yahya Barzanji in Sulaimaniyah, Iraq, contributed to this report.