DUBAI: A deal to restart Iraq’s Kurdistan oil exports stalled on Tuesday as two oil producing firms asked for assurances their debts would be repaid.
The deal between Iraq’s federal and Kurdish regional governments and oil firms is designed to lead to the resumption of exports of about 230,000 barrels per day of oil from Kurdistan to global market via Turkiye. They have been suspended since March 2023.
Iraq’s cabinet was scheduled to approve on Tuesday the deal involving oil producers active in Iraqi Kurdistan. It was not immediately clear if the deal could go ahead without DNO and Genel’s participation.
Norway’s DNO, the largest producer in the semi-autonomous region, and Genel Energy said they had yet to sign as they wanted assurances on repayments of arrears.
DNO said it had proposed “easy fixes that can be quickly agreed” without saying what they were.
Kurdistan has accumulated around $1 billion in arrears to producers with DNO’s estimated share of overdue receivables at about $300 million.
Dispute over arrears stalls Kurdistan oil exports restart
https://arab.news/wgngk
Dispute over arrears stalls Kurdistan oil exports restart
- Iraq’s cabinet was scheduled to approve on Tuesday the deal involving oil producers active in Iraqi Kurdistan
- It was not immediately clear if the deal could go ahead without DNO and Genel’s participation
Lebanon urges UNSC delegation to press Israel to respect ceasefire
- Israel has kept up strikes on Lebanon and has also maintained troops in five south Lebanon areas it deems strategic
BEIRUT: Lebanese President Joseph Aoun urged a United Nations Security Council delegation on Friday to pressure Israel to respect a year-old ceasefire and to support his army’s efforts to disarm Hezbollah.
Despite a November 2024 ceasefire that was supposed to end more than a year of hostilities between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group, Israel has kept up strikes on Lebanon and has also maintained troops in five south Lebanon areas it deems strategic.
Aoun “stressed the need to pressure the Israeli side to implement the ceasefire and withdraw, and expressed his hope for pressure from the delegation,” according to a statement from the presidency.
He also noted “Lebanon’s commitment to implementing international resolutions” and asked the envoys to support the Lebanese army’s efforts to disarm non-government groups.
The Lebanese government ordered its military to fully disarm Hezbollah in August, and the army expects to complete the first phase of its plan by the end of the year.
The UN delegation visited Damascus on Thursday and after its meeting with Aoun was due to inspect the border area in southern Lebanon on Saturday, accompanied by US envoy Morgan Ortagus.
The visit comes as Lebanese and Israeli civilian representatives held their first direct talks in decades.
On Thursday, Information Minister Paul Morcos quoted Aoun calling the initial negotiations “positive” and stressing “the need for the language of negotiation — not the language of war — to prevail.”
That same day, Israel struck four southern Lebanese towns, saying it was targeting Hezbollah infrastructure including weapons depots to stop the group from rearming.
UN peacekeepers called the strikes “clear violations of Security Council resolution 1701,” which ended the 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel.
The peacekeepers also said their vehicles were fired on by six men on three mopeds near Bint Jbeil on Thursday. There were no injuries in the incident.
“Attacks on peacekeepers are unacceptable and serious violations of resolution 1701,” the international force added.
Hezbollah refuses to disarm but has not responded to Israeli attacks since the ceasefire. It has, however, promised a response to the killing of its military chief in a strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs last month.
