The president of Iraq's Kurdish Regional Government, Massoud Barzani, has slammed the central government's Oil Ministry over the dispute about the distribution of oil wealth, in an interview with the Financial Times published Thursday.
Kurdish officials have been unwilling to give Baghdad veto power over the development of the industry within their territory and the central government insisting that it must direct the oil industry's development throughout Iraq, the FT said.
Barzani, however, said the problem lies in the failure of the Oil Ministry, which has made no progress in managing the industry in the rest of Iraq.
"They haven't been able to do things so they don't want anyone else to do it," he said.
The ministry has spent billions of dollars, he said, yet it has failed to meet its promise of boosting production