The prime minister of Iraq's Kurdistan region will hold talks with top government officials in Baghdad this week over a stalled draft oil law and disputed oil contracts signed by his administration, an official said.
Nechirvan Barzani of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) would meet with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and other officials, the national government's spokesman, Ali al-Dabbagh said late on Saturday.
The regional government has signed a series of petroleum deals with foreign oil firms this year, angering the central government. Iraq's Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani has declared the contracts illegal.
"On Monday, Nechirvan Barzani is coming to Baghdad to meet with Maliki and other Iraqi officials to discuss the budget and the money for the regions," Dabbagh said.
"He will also discuss the oil law and the oil contracts that Kurdistan has signed." The KRG has said its actions signing oil deals were constitutional, arguing it has the right to attract foreign firms to develop oil and gas resources in its northern region.
The draft national oil law, which aims to share Iraq's vast oil wealth among its different ethnic and sectarian groups, has been stalled because of disputes with the KRG and other political factions.
Last week Shahristani said "irreconcilable" differences meant the law would not be passed any time soon. Frustrated by the delays in approving the national law, Kurdistan passed its own in August. Baghdad rejects that law.
The national oil law is one of a number of political benchmarks identified by Washington as vital for reconciliation between majority Shias and minority Sunni Arabs in Iraq.