Iraq
's oil-rich
Kirkuk
province has started buying
electricity from a private supplier in autonomous
Kurdistan
, its governor said Tuesday, after a
spat with
Baghdad
over power shortages.
"We have a signed contract to solve the electricity problem in
Kirkuk
during the summer through buying
200 megawatts from a supplier in
Kurdistan
," said Rakan Saeed al-Juburi, the
governor of
Kirkuk
.
Jaburi said supplies had already started this month with 100 megawatts, which
would double by the end of July, adding the contract was signed with Ahmed
Ismaeel, one of the biggest private power suppliers in
Kurdistan
.
Kirkuk
, which produces more electricity
than it is allocated by
Baghdad
, in January briefly stopped
supplying power to the national network.
It resumed only after officials agreed to immediately increase
Kirkuk
's quota by nearly 50%, still
leaving the province woefully short of 24-hour power.
Jaburi said the final price still hadn't been agreed, but authorities in
Kirkuk
were negotiating for $0.06 a kilowatt.
The governor said supplies would be paid for with revenues from the Petrodollar
agreement, through which
Kirkuk
receives $1 from the central
government for every barrel of oil it exports, amounting to about $1.7 million
a month.