A new export pipeline means Iraqi Kurdistan will soon earn more from its own oil than it receives from Baghdad as a share of total Iraqi revenues, a turning point that could strengthen the region's hand in its long search for independence.

Autonomous since 1991, Kurdistan has often chafed against the Iraqi central government and even threatened to secede, but it is nonetheless beholden to Baghdad for a slice of the OPEC producer's $100-billion-plus budget. That may soon change.

By trucking its oil to world markets through Turkey, the Kurds have already earned nearly $1 billion, and once the new export pipeline is operational at the end of the year, the region stands to take in nearly that amount each month.

The pipeline is a sign of the region's increasing single-mindedness and could make it self-sufficient, although that in itself will not be enough to bring the independence of which Kurds dream.