ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - After months of wrangling, Kurdistan Region's oil exports are expected to resume within 48 hours, Peshawa Hawramani, spokesperson of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), told reporters on Wednesday.
"There was a tripartite agreement. This agreement made very important steps forward. One to two [oil] companies had reservations, but it was not a big deal, therefore we cannot say that there is any problem hindering the resumption of oil exports," Hawramani said.
He added that they "have already sent a letter to the SOMO [Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organization] company to take the oil from us. It is all done, what is left is the technical matter... based on our talks and agreements, we are expecting this issue will be resolved in the next 48 hours."
"The Kurdistan Region's oil export capacity currently stands at 234,000 barrels of oil per day," Hawramani said.
For its part, the natural resources ministry of the Kurdistan Region said in a statement that they had "fulfilled" all of their obligations towards the federal government and the international companies for the resumption of oil exports.
"The Natural Resources Ministry has implemented all of its obligations within the framework of recommendations and decisions of the [KRG's] Council of Ministers," read a statement from the oil ministry. "All the domestic and foreign companies have signed [their approvals], except for one company which does not affect the tripartite agreement between our ministry, the companies, and the federal oil ministry."
The Kurdish oil ministry did not reveal which oil company did not sign the tripartite agreement for the resumption of oil exports.
Oil exports from the Kurdistan Region through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline have been suspended since March 2023, when a Paris-based arbitration court ruled in favor of Baghdad that Ankara had violated a 1973 pipeline agreement by allowing Erbil to export oil independently beginning in 2014.
The Iraqi federal government and the KRG have been locked in a long-running dispute over oil revenues and export rights. After months of negotiations, they have agreed that the KRG will deliver its oil to SOMO and keep some for domestic production.
An agreement between the producers and the federal government was the final hurdle to resuming exports.
An amendment to the Iraqi budget law in early February set a temporary entitlement of $16 per barrel for production and transportation costs, to be paid to the oil producers until an international consultant determines the real value. However, the amendment made no provision for repayment of past debts.
Before the halt, Erbil exported around 400,000 barrels per day through the pipeline, in addition to some 75,000 barrels of Kirkuk’s oil.
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