Baghdad (Platts)--16Nov2009/757 am EST/1257 GMT

A delegation from Iraq's oil ministry arrived in the Kurdistan capital Erbil Sunday in a bid to resolve outstanding issues between Baghdad and the semi-autonomous region, an oil ministry source told Platts.

Among the issues of conflict between the two parties are the Kurdistan Regional Government's insistence the federal constitution and its own oil and gas law, approved in August 2007, enables it to conclude contracts with international oil companies to explore and develop the region's hydrocarbon resources.

Baghdad, however, regards any contracts signed without the oil ministry's approval to be illegal and has gone as far as banning those companies that have struck a deal with the KRG from participating in the country's international bid rounds.

The two sides are also in dispute over the status of the oil rich Kirkuk territory, as a referendum on the status Kirkuk that was supposed to have taken place by the end of 2007 had still not gone ahead.

This failure had threatened to derail the January's national parliamentary elections.

The delegation, led by deputy minister for upstream operations Abdul Karim Laebi and including deputy minister for downstream operations Motasam Akram Hassan, will meet with newly elected KRG Prime Minister Barham Saleh, the source said.

Saleh, a former deputy prime minister of Iraq, replaced former prime minister Nechirvan Barzani following regional elections in July.

--Ben Lando, newsdesk@platts.com