"We have studied the question of developing the Khorman oil field to connect it to all the oil of Iraq, to export it via the principle pipelines," Shahristani told reporters in the regional capital of Arbil.

He added that the government was looking to develop two additional fields in the Kurdistan region but insisted all the oil be exported through national pipelines in order to benefit the country as a whole.

Over the past year, the Kurdish regional government has angered Baghdad by finalising its own energy law and signing contracts with global oil majors despite the absence of national oil legislation.

The national law has been delayed in parliament over bitter differences among the assembly's Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish lawmakers over the sharing of the revenues generated from oil sales.

Shahristani said his discussions with regional Kurdish officials did not touch on the contracts, saying only that "oil must remain a bond uniting all Iraqis."

Nechirvan Barzani, prime minister of the Kurdish government, told the same press conference that the two sides had "studied connecting the oil pipelines and exporting the oil of Kurdistan through the main pipelines."

A committee has been formed to coordinate future efforts, he said.