Iraqi Kurdistan to resume oil production within three days
The Turkish port of Ceyhan. Photo: Reuters
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The Iraqi Minister of Oil, Hayan Abdul-Ghani, expected on Sunday to reach an agreement with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and foreign oil companies operating in Iraqi Kurdistan to resume oil production from the region’s oilfields within three days.
During his visit to Erbil, Abdul-Ghani said that Iraq reached an understanding with Turkey in relation to the resumption of Iraqi Kurdistan’s oil exports through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline, according to Reuters.
The Norwegian company DNO said last Thursday that international oil companies operating in the Kurdistan region of Iraq will not produce oil for export through a pipeline until the late payments issue, estimated at about one billion dollars, is resolved.
The Association of the Petroleum Industry of Kurdistan (APIKUR) mentioned in mid-October that Turkey’s closure of the oil pipeline in March made Iraq, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), and oil producers all lose a total of $7 billion.
The Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Alparslan Bayraktar, explained in September that the inspection of the oil pipeline between Iraq and Turkey has been completed, and the pipeline will be technically ready for operation soon.
Turkey began maintenance work on the pipeline, which, according to Turkish officials, passes through a seismically active area and was damaged by floods.
DNO illustrated that the six members of APIKUR, including itself, will not resume exports through the pipeline until it is clear how they will receive their contractual entitlements for the oil that has already been sold and exported.
The company added that the accumulated debts owed to the KRG from previous oil sales in 2022 and 2023 exceeded $300 million.
Turkey stopped Iraq’s exports of 450,000 barrels per day through the oil pipeline that extends from the Kurdistan region of Iraq to the Turkish port of Ceyhan on March 25.
Turkey’s decision to suspend oil exports followed an arbitration decision issued by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in Paris.
The decision obliged Turkey to pay Baghdad $1.5 billion in compensation for damages caused by the KRG’s export of oil without permission from the federal government in Baghdad between 2014 and 2018.
The KRG began exporting crude oil independently in 2013, a step Baghdad considered illegal.