Kurdistan cuts down the deal for oil with Baghdad

On the front line of the war with ISIS, Kurdistan has broken with Iraq’s government and begun to sell oil on its own account. The decision by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), taken in recent weeks, marks the latest escalation in a long-running feud with Baghdad over oil receipts.
The KRG decided last month to sell its daily production of 650,000 barrels direct to international markets. Previously, it sold most of its crude through Somo, the Iraqi state trading company.
SOMO was in turn meant to reimburse Kurdistan for its share of total Iraqi output, which is 17%. SOMO has instead made partial, sporadic payments, piling pressure on Kurdistan’s feeble finances.
The KRG’s Territorial Army, the Peshmerga, is fighting to keep Isis at bay along its 650-mile border with Syria. More than 1.8m refugees have flooded into its territory.