ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has signed a pre-financed contract with Russia’s state oil company Rosneft for the export of Kurdish crude oil. 

“This deal represents a new beginning in our relationship with Rosneft and opens up the possibility of a broader relationship in all fields of energy cooperation with Russian Oil company Rosneft within Kurdistan,” the Kurdish Minister of Natural Resources Dr. Ashti Hawrami stated, according to a press release from Rosneft. 

Rosneft’s CEO Igor Sechin said his company was looking forward to developing new international markets for Kurdish crude oil. 

“The off-take and supply of Kurdish crude oil into Rosneft’s expanding worldwide refining system will further contribute to the increase in its effectiveness,” Sechin said.

According to the November oil production and export report from the KRG, the Region has exported an average of 587,646 barrels of oil per day through Turkey’s Ceyhan port.

The deal with Rosneft is for a two-year period, from 2017 to 2019.