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Iraqi Kurdistan-Russia oil deal could have major implications for region

The Kurdistan Regional Government quietly signed a major deal June 2 with Russian oil giant Rosneft, allowing Russia its first entry to the Kurdish oil market, which was dominated by the United States and Turkey.
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Iraq's central government for years has opposed the sale of Iraqi oil by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq. The KRG’s biggest oil sale was with Turkey in 2014, and at one time the dispute reached a crisis level with parties accusing each other of “misreading the [Iraqi] Constitution." However, as the oil argument was growing, the Islamic State (IS) invaded Mosul in northern Iraq. When IS began to threaten the nearby Kurdish region, oil squabbles were put on the back burner. Still, the KRG quietly continued its oil trade.

The KRG had serious problems coping simultaneously with the war with IS and its economic crisis. Now, with the IS threat diminishing, the oil trade is back on the agenda as the KRG energetically pursues more oil deals. The first major recent agreement was just made with geographically distant but politically near Russia.

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