The Iraqi government and the authorities of Kurdistan , the autonomous region in the north of the country, on Tuesday signed an agreement allowing the immediate resumption of the region's oil exports to Turkey , in a "temporary" settlement to a long dispute between the two parties.

Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammad Shia al-Sudani said during a joint press conference with the head of the regional government, Masrour Barzani, following the signing of the agreement, "We appreciate the efforts of the two parties, the federal government and the Kurdistan region, for the professional and responsible negotiations that have taken place, and we hope for them well, and we hope that they will immediately start implementing the agreement." ".

Later, Barzani said in a tweet that this agreement is "temporary" because it will allow the resumption of exporting the region's oil until the Iraqi parliament votes on the oil and gas law, "but it is a vital step to end the long dispute between Baghdad and Erbil."

The agreement, which was signed in the presence of Al-Sudani and Barzani, stipulates that Kurdistan's oil sales will be conducted through the Iraqi Oil Marketing Company "Sumer", which means that Erbil will no longer unilaterally manage the oil file.

It also stipulates that the total revenues of oil exported from the region’s fields be deposited in a bank account of the regional government with the Central Bank of Iraq or one of the banks accredited by the Central Bank of Iraq, according to what a government source in Baghdad said.

Likewise, the agreement provides for the creation of an assistant position for the general manager of the Iraqi Oil Marketing Company, provided that the Kurdistan Regional Government nominates the name that will occupy this newly created position, according to the same source.

According to the text of the agreement, and pending the approval of the budget or the oil and gas law, a temporary committee of four members will be formed from the Ministry of Oil, the Oil Marketing Company and the Ministry of Natural Resources in the region, whose task is to negotiate the sale of the region’s oil according to the sales mechanisms of the “SOMO” company, provided that the final beneficiary is known.

The file of the region's oil constitutes an obstacle in the relations between Baghdad and Erbil at a time when the Iraqi government adopted in its budget for the next three years the average selling price of a barrel of oil at $70.

The Baghdad government has always looked with anger at the Kurdistan government, which used to export the region's oil without returning to the central government, thus depriving it of its resources.

An official in the Kurdistan Regional Government told AFP that the agreement would be implemented as of "today."

The dispute between Baghdad and Erbil reached its climax ten days ago when Turkey stopped importing Kurdistan's oil.

On March 25, Turkey stopped importing oil from the Kurdistan region, following the decision of the arbitral tribunal at the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris, which ruled in favor of Iraq in its dispute with Turkey over oil exports from its northern region.

The dispute between the central government and the regional government over the oil file dates back to 2014, when Baghdad filed a lawsuit against Turkey before the arbitral tribunal, objecting to Ankara's declaration of exporting Iraqi Kurdistan's oil to global markets without the permission of the Iraqi government.

Despite Baghdad's opposition, Erbil was exporting the region's oil via Türkiye.

The region's export rate is about 450,000 barrels per day.

According to oil expert Yassar al-Maliki, the agreement "gives Baghdad the ability to view the oil sector in Iraqi Kurdistan, even if it is currently a matter of sales only."

He added that the agreement, in return, gives Erbil the ability to "increase its income by ceasing to grant large discounts" on its sales, as it used to do in the past.

Iraq is the second largest oil country in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

Iraq exports an average of 3.3 million barrels of crude oil per day, and black gold constitutes more than 90% of the Iraqi treasury resources.

In principle, according to the agreement, Erbil must hand over part of its oil production to Baghdad, which in return must pay the salaries of public servants in the region.