According to Kurdpress, quoted by Kurdistan Watch, perhaps the phrase "gas for the Patriotic Union, oil for the Democratic Party" is the most accurate description of the new economic-institutional gap in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq; The gap that is now not only political or security, but has clearly entered the field of energy and economic governance.

The statements of the Deputy Minister of Natural Resources of the region from the faction of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan at the Sulaymaniyah Economic Forum show that Sulaymaniyah is actually pursuing an independent energy policy based on gas; A policy that is gradually moving away from the centralized framework of Erbil. His emphasis on signing eight gas sales contracts, replacing heavy fuel with gas, reducing carbon emissions and diversifying the economy, is not just an economic plan; Rather, it is considered a kind of declaration of independent economic identity for the sphere of influence of the Patriotic Union.

On the other hand, the Kurdistan Democratic Party has still based its main lever of power on oil exports, transmission lines, and the network of energy relations with Türkiye. In the past years, the control of oil and its export has been the most important source of financial and political power in Erbil under the leadership of the Democratic Party. But now the Patriotic Union is trying to create a new balance by relying on large gas reserves, especially the Khormur field.

This process has several important messages:

First, the institutional gap in the climate has entered the operational stage; In such a way that the authorities affiliated with the Patriotic Union act like a "Ministry of Natural Resources of Sulaymaniyah", not a part of the unified government of the region.

Second, gas has become the new geopolitical tool of the Patriotic Union; Just as oil plays the role of a lever of power for the Democratic Party.

Third, the focus of the Patriotic Union on gas is not only economic, but also connected to the global energy transition process. The emphasis on reducing emissions and replacing heavy fuel with gas is an attempt to align Sulaymaniyah with the energy policies of Europe and Western companies.

Fourth, referring to the necessity of implementing the oil and gas law reflects the growing concern about the lack of a single legal framework in the region and Iraq; An issue that is now directly tied to intra-Kurdish competition over energy resources.

In practice, the Kurdistan Region is moving towards a kind of economic duality due to Erbil's emphasis on oil, exports and Turkey's network and Sulaymaniyah on gas, domestic consumption, local contracts and cleaner energy projects.

If this trend continues, the economic structure of the region will be divided more than in the past; A situation that can even have a direct effect on the political and security structure of the region in the future.