Baghdad and Erbil signed an agreement that was announced on November 16 to resume exports of Kirkuk’s oil via the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) pipeline. Initial volume was expected to be between 50,000 and 100,000 barrels per day.
In the month of November, Iraq exported a total of 261,466 barrels per day to Ceyhan, Assim Jihad, spokesperson for the Oil Ministry, announced on Saturday.
Iraq also exported more than 100.9 million barrels from its central and southern oil fields in November.
At an average price of $61.09 per barrel, total revenues exceeded $6 billion, Jihad said. Nearly $16 million of that comes from the Ceyhan sales.
Exports from Kirkuk’s rich oil fields were halted when Iraqi forces took control of the disputed province from the Peshmerga in October last year. Relations between Erbil and Baghdad have improved this year, especially under the new federal government.
KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani welcomed the Kirkuk oil export deal as a “positive gesture” for relations.
Baghdad hopes to bring Kirkuk production back up to pre-October 2017 levels of some 300,000 barrels per day.
