Iraqi oil minister Hussain al-Shahristani has said a dispute between Iraqi Kurdistan and the central government that halted Kurdish oil exports is “supposed to be resolved” and oil could flow early next year, Reuters has reported. The semi-autonomous northern area has been locked in a dispute with Baghdad that stopped exports in 2009. Output from the Kurdish region will be key to boosting the country’s oil exports, upon which Iraq relies for about 95 per cent of its federal budget.