Iraq's newly appointed oil minister said on Saturday that Kurds can sell their oil to the outside world only through the national export network with revenues go to the government budget. Abdul-Karim Luaibi who is currently in Cairo for an Arab oil ministers meeting, said representatives of the central government and Kurds will meet soon to work out details about oil exports from the country's northern self-ruled Kurdish region. "Exports will be through the central system in return for the government responsibility to develop the oil fields (in Kurdistan)," he told reporters. The Kurds have signed some 20 oil deals with foreign companies since the 2003 US-led invasion which were brokered without the endorsement of the Baghdad government. The contracts outraged the central government, who deemed them illegal and wanted to have them negotiated with the government. The dispute threatened to derail the formation of the new government last week as Kurds blamed outgoing oil minister Hussain Al-Shahristani for the blockade. Kurds hope to export some 150,000 barrels daily from the oil fields under their control. The move is significant because it gives Kurds over all control on resources in their areas. Symbolically, it is also a sign of more autonomy in running the region's affairs. Earlier this month Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani told a meeting of his Kurdistan Democratic Party that Kurds had a right to self- determination in this northern, semi- independent region. Barzani later clarified that the right to self-determination does not imply a desire for secession, but his remarks prompted a strong reaction from many Iraqi Arabs, who said the move indicated that the Kurds might be moving towards seceding from Iraq. Oil sales account for roughly 95 percent of Iraq's foreign revenues. The country plans to export 2.25 million barrels a day next year, up from some 1.9 million now. Oil ministers from several Arab countries opened an annual meeting on Saturday in Cairo to discuss intra-Arab cooperation on oil and gas issues.
