"I do not think the differences between our autonomous region and the federal government will be resolved by the elections," Kurdish regional president Massud Barzani told members of the European parliament in Brussels.

"I don't think that can be done in coming months," he said.

Last month, Iraqi Kurdistan halted oil exports due to a payment dispute with Baghdad.

The two sides have clashed over how oil revenues should be distributed and Kurdish authorities have said they will not resume crude exports until Baghdad pays the foreign energy companies which are pumping the oil.

The oil ministry and Iraqi Kurdistan are at loggerheads over how to pay international companies involved in the tapping of the nation's vast energy reserves.

Baghdad has repeatedly said it is opposed to the Kurds signing their own contracts, a position which Kurdish officials have largely disregarded by signing dozens of agreements with foreign firms.

However, the central government in May gave its approval for Iraqi Kurdistan to begin exporting oil extracted by the companies which had signed deals with Arbil, the region's capital.

"Oil and gas belong to all the Iraqi people, we have no problem with that," Barzani said, but he added: "We don't want centralised oil and gas policy imposed on us, that would not be fair."

"Revenues must be fairly shared out," he said.

Iraq has the world's third largest proven reserves of oil, with more than 115 billion barrels, behind only Saudi Arabia and Iran.