Kurdistan Regional Government

Iraq has extended by three months a ban on international flights to the autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), a senior official at the Arbil airport said on Feb. 26.

United Arab Emirates energy producer Dana Gas swung to a net profit of $83 million in 2017 from a net loss of $88 million a year earlier after a $1 billion payment as part of a settlement with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).

Baghdad and Arbil have requested Turkey’s mediation after tensions between the central government and the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) soared over the latter’s September 2017 independence referendum, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has said.

Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq has rejected handing over the border management to the Iraqi federal administration, saying that the law instead provides for joint administration, as Iran re-opened its crossings with the semi-autonomous region.

 Iraq's Supreme Federal Court ruled on Monday that a referendum held on Kurdish independence was unconstitutional and that the results of the vote were void, a court spokesman said, quoted by Reuters.

Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) said on Nov. 14 it would respect a decision by the country's federal court banning the region's secession.

Iraqi authorities took control of the main land crossing with Turkey, in the Kurdish area of Fish-Khabur, a customs official said on Tuesday, Reuters reported.

Global crude prices have hit a three-week high as the conflict between Iraqi and Kurdish forces intensifies. Iraqi troops are advancing on the city of Kirkuk, reportedly seizing the region's oil fields.

West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.6 percent to $52.29 per barrel, setting it on track for its highest settlement price since the end of September, according to FactSet data.

Iraqi government forces captured the major Kurdish-held oil city of Kirkuk on Monday, responding to a Kurdish referendum on independence with a bold lightning strike that transforms the balance of power in the country, Reuters.

Iraq's central bank on Wednesday eased financial restrictions imposed on the Kurdistan region over its independence vote after receiving a pledge of cooperation from Kurdish banks, an Iraqi banking source said.

All but four Kurdish-owned banks were allowed to resume dollar and foreign currency transfers on Wednesday, the source told Reuters.