UK Commends Iraq, Kurdistan Region for National Budget, Oil Exports Deal

The UK foreign policy chief welcomed the agreement between the Iraqi government and the Kurdistan region on oil exports and revenue sharing.

MOSCOW, December 3 (Sputnik) — UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond on Wednesday lauded the December 2 deal on oil exports and budget sharing struck between the Iraqi governments and the autonomous Kurdistan Region.

"I very much welcome the agreement on 2 December between the Federal Government of Iraq, led by Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi, and the Kurdistan Regional Government, represented by Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani, on detailed arrangements on oil exports and revenue sharing," Hammond was quoted as saying in a press release on the Foreign Office website.

Hammond also said that the central and regional governments in Iraq should join forces to crack down on Islamic State militants, who currently control several parts of the country's north.

"I hope that all Iraqi leaders will follow this constructive approach to addressing practical challenges, in the interests of national reconciliation and unity against a common enemy who are a threat to all," Hammond continued in the press release.

On December 2, the governments of Iraq and the autonomous Kurdistan Region in northern Iraq agreed on the daily export of 250,000 barrels of oil from the Kurdistan Region and 300,000 from Kirkuk, also in northern Iraq. The deal will also see 17 percent of Iraq's national budget being transferred to the autonomous region annually.

The agreement, which will take effect early in 2015, may prove a cornerstone in relations between the government of Iraq and the Kurdistan region.