Emblems of the Iraqi Federal Government (left) and the Kurdistan Regional Government (right).
Baghdad refuses extra fuel for Kurdistan Region as reserves hit critical low
BAGHDAD — The Oil Ministry has turned down a Kurdistan Regional Government request for extra petroleum products, saying Iraq’s strategic reserves have fallen to their minimum critical level, according to a letter signed by the oil minister.
The KRG had asked for products under a programme to supply the Region with an additional 15,000 barrels of crude a day at the prices charged in other governorates, said the letter of Aug. 25 from Basim Mohammed Khudair to the KRG representation in Baghdad. The Region currently receives 50,000 barrels a day. Regional developments had hit supply chains and production during peak summer consumption, the ministry said. “Based on the above which led to the decline in strategic reserves to the minimum critical level, we apologize for being unable to meet the request contained in your aforementioned letter at the present time.”
The refusal lands on a Region already paying far more at the pump. Subsidised regular petrol costs 450 dinars a litre in governorates outside the Region and 750 inside it — two thirds more for the same product. Commercial regular runs at about 1,750 dinars, improved grade around 2,000 and super around 2,200, varying by station.
The KRG’s price caps have not held. Its natural resources ministry capped commercial regular at 850 dinars and later capped improved grade at 1,000 and super at 1,200. Stations are charging roughly double each of those. Officials blamed the shortage on reduced crude deliveries to local refineries cutting subsidised production while commercial prices climbed.
The National Stance Movement, led by Ali Hama Saleh, has called for prices in the Region to match the rest of Iraq. “Fuel prices in the Region cannot be three times those in Iraq,” he said, calling for the KRG either to hand its 50,000 barrels to Baghdad so the federal government can supply subsidised fuel, or to cut prices itself. Parliament’s Oil and Gas Committee met a KRG natural resources delegation on Thursday over supplies, with no outcome announced.