The Prime Minister of Iraq, Haider El Abadi, indicated that revenues from the northern, autonomous Kurdish region belong to central government, Zawya reports.

“Federal government control of oil revenues is in order to pay KR (Kurdistan Region) employee salaries in full, the prime minister said in a tweet, according to Zawya.

The statement follows a period of deteriorating relations between the central government based in Baghdad and the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) based in Irbil. Last week the KRG held a non-binding independence referendum. The referendum passed by a strong majority.

KRG crude exports flow through a Turkish pipeline with the export revenues going to the KRG, Zawya reports.

In response to the referendum, Turkey has threatened to close the pipeline, Alsharq Al-Awsat reports. Iran has also halted the trade of petroleum products with the autonomous area.

The KRG exported 581,000 barrels per day (b/d) in August, Bloomberg reported in September.