Iraqi and Kurdish Governments Reach Agreement in Oil Dispute

Iraq's finance minister says the central government has reached an agreement in a long-standing oil dispute with the semi-autonomous Kurdish regional government. Hoshyar Zebari tells The Associated Press that the Kurdish government will send a total of 550,000 barrels of oil per day to the Iraqi oil ministry. In exchange, the Kurds will receive their 17% share of the national budget allocated to their region, plus installments of as much as $1 billion to boost the capabilities of Kurdish peshmerga fighters battling the Islamic State militant group. Earlier this year, Baghdad cut the 17% of the state budget that is supposed to go to the Kurdish region after the Kurds began transporting oil from fields inside the autonomous zone to Turkey against Baghdad's wishes.