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The Prime Minister of Iraq has said that the Gulf state is looking for a solution to the row over oil contracts signed by the semi-autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan and foreign oil companies.
Reuters reported that Nuri Maliki wants an end to the bickering over foreign investment in Iraq in order to quell fears regarding investment in the country.
“We said it is time to look at this file and settle it with flexibility and realism, in order to preserve rights and interests in these contracts,” Maliki said on a government website.
“We hope to end this crisis,” he added.
Baghdad has always stated that any contract signed between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and foreign oil firms for fields in the region would not be sanctioned by the country’s oil ministry.
“All we are saying is that these contracts are illegal and illegitimate. The [Kurdistan] region does not have the right, nor does any province or anyone else, to sign contracts on behalf of Iraq without authorisation,” Iraq Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani said last year.Â
