Roj Bash Kurdistan

The Iraq Oil Report, a website that monitors Iraq's energy industry, reported the oil flow which began a week ago is primarily to test the pipeline. But it stressed this is "a significant step toward Kurdistan's first independent pipeline exports."

The Financial Times said Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government will likely secure 83 percent of revenues generated by KRG exports with the Kurds getting 17 percent, a split Baghdad has apparently endorsed.

The Kurds' share may seem risible but the KRG can expect to earn billions of dollars in revenue from the oil and gas exports to Turkey that are likely to follow, along with significant investment that will provide a strong economic base for a future independent state.

Maliki fears once Kurdistan establishes a firm economic base, the Kurds will declare independence, which would in turn encourage other restive regions to break away from Baghdad's control.

HZKurdi wrote:So if Iraq wants to be a part of Kurdistan, the the should only get less than 33%, since Kurds number at least 40 million in all of Kurdistan, and Iraqis alone are number les than 20 million. And these are very conservative figures.