Iraq says it will resume oil exports from the Kurdish region after a halt of more than 2 years
Iraq says it will resume oil exports from the Kurdish region after a halt of more than 2 years
BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq will resume exporting oil from the country’s northern, semiautonomous Kurdish region through Turkey’s Ceyhan port after exports had been halted for more than two years, officials said Friday.
The resumption, which starts on Saturday, is a step toward boosting Iraq’s oil revenues and stabilizing the relationship between the central government in Baghdad and the Kurdish region, even as disputes over revenue sharing and field management persist.
The exports stopped in early 2023 after the International Chamber of Commerce sided with Iraq in an arbitration case over the independent export of oil by the Kurdish regional government. Several previous attempts to reach a deal to resume exports fell through.
Ali Nizar al-Shatari, head of Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organization, told The Associated Press that pumping will begin at 6 a.m. Saturday, with the agreed quantity set at 240,000 barrels per day.
Between 180,000 and 190,000 barrels will actually be exported, while around 50,000 barrels will be used locally, within the Kurdish region.
The resumption follows a tripartite agreement between the federal Oil Ministry, the Kurdish region’s natural resources ministry, and international oil companies operating in the region. Companies operating in the Kurdistan Region will receive $16 per barrel to cover production and transportation costs, al-Shatari said.
He said the United States supported and closely monitored the agreement. Iraq’s export agreement with Turkey runs until July 2026, and discussions will be held with Ankara regarding its renewal, the Iraqi official added.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio welcomed the deal in a statement, saying it “will bring tangible benefits for both Americans and Iraqis.”
Norwegian oil and gas operator DNO ASA announced it got instructions to prepare for the commencement of oil exports through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline starting Saturday, although it will not directly export oil but will sell to buyers who will move the oil to the export pipeline.
DNO Executive Chairman Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani said the company has also launched a major production expansion program and is replacing equipment damaged during July drone attacks on its fields in Iraq.
Officials in Baghdad and Irbil, the seat of the Kurdish regional government, have long been at odds over sharing of oil revenues. In 2014, the Kurdish region decided to unilaterally export oil through an independent pipeline to the Turkish port of Ceyhan.
Iraq’s central authorities have maintained it’s illegal for the Kurdish region to export oil without going through the Iraqi national oil company, while Kurdish authorities said the practice was meant to compensate for budget transfers withheld from the Kurdish region by Baghdad.
By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA
Associated Press
