Oil exports from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq to Türkiye could resume before March as all legal procedures have been completed, according to officials on Monday.
The resumption of flows of approximately 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) would resolve a nearly two-year row amid legal disputes and technical issues as ties between Baghdad and Irbil improve
The region’s natural resources minister told broadcaster Rudaw Monday that “all legal procedures have been completed,” while Iraq’s Oil Minister Hayan Abul-Ghani separately told reporters that oil exports from the KRG would resume within a week.
“We have agreed” with the region to receive at least 300,000 bpd “to export through the Turkish port of Ceyhan,” Abul-Ghani said.
Oil flows go through a KRG pipeline to Fish-Khabur on the northern Iraqi border, where the oil enters Türkiye and is pumped to the port of Ceyhan on its Mediterranean coast.
A delegation from Baghdad would head to Irbil on Tuesday to “set up a mechanism to receive and export the oil,” Abul-Ghani said.
Exports are expected to resume “within a week,” he added.
On Sunday, Nechirvan Barzani, the president of Iraq’s KRG, also signaled the likely resumption of exports as of next month. He told Bloomberg News he would discuss the matter further with Turkish officials in Irbil in the coming days.
“Everything is ready now for us to export our oil,” Barzani said. “We expect the oil exports to resume by the end of March.”
Earlier this month, the Iraqi Parliament approved a budget amendment to subsidize production costs for international oil companies operating in the KRG, a move aimed at unblocking northern oil exports.
The oil flows were halted by Türkiye in March 2023 following an arbitration ruling by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).
The ICC ordered Ankara to pay Baghdad damages of $1.5 billion over what it said were unauthorized exports by the KRG between 2014 and 2018.
Türkiye, on the other hand, said the body had recognized most of Ankara’s demands. In October 2023, it said it was ready for operations and that it was up to Iraq to resume flows.
The federal and regional governments have been negotiating ever since over the production and transport costs payable to the region and its commercial partners.
The resumption of exports is expected to ease economic pressure in the KRG, where the halt has led to salary delays for public sector workers and cuts to essential services.
The Association of the Petroleum Industry of Kurdistan, which represents international oil firms operating in the Iraqi region, put losses to all parties since the pipeline closed at $20 billion.
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