Kurdistan to Iraq: Pay us for the oil

Kurdistan today accused Iraq of withholding oil payments and undercounting the semi-autonomous region's crude contributions, according to Reuters. 

“Not a single dollar has been received for exports in 2012,” Reuters quoted Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) spokesman Michael Howard as saying in an emailed statement.

The statement insisted that Baghdad reconcile a difference of some 35,000 barrels of daily crude the region says it has exported this year, according to Bloomberg. 

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Kurdistan says it is exporting some 90,000-100,000 barrels per day, the statement said, while Baghad lists the region's contributions as 65,000 barrels per day, Reuters said, referring to the statement. 

“The KRG believes that this discrepancy should be investigated immediately in case somebody is creaming off the difference between the oil received and the oil sold,” Bloomberg cited the statement as saying. 

Tensions are high between Iraq and Kurdistan, a region that is seen as pushing for political independence. The region holds about one-third of Iraq's total oil reserves, according to UPI.