Iraq’s self-governed Kurdish region began exporting oil for the first time yesterday, pumping crude through a pipeline to Turkey for sale to foreign markets.
Iraq’s Kurdish President, Jalal Talabani, and Massoud Barzani, the president of the Kurdish regional government, opened a ceremonial valve in Arbil, the regional capital.
Pointedly, there were no non-Kurds from the federal Government at the ceremony. Kurds and Arabs in Iraq are in a dispute over the division of the country’s mineral resources that could still spill into bloodshed.
Mr Barzani said: “This achievement will serve the interests of all Iraqis, especially the Kurds.”
Turkey has long feared that the generation of Kurdish oil wealth from Iraq could spark secessionist violence among its own Kurds.
However, the Turkish Genel Enerji is