ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Norway's DNO announced on Friday that they will restart shipments of oil from Tawke field in the Kurdistan Region for export and will continue to supply local markets following agreements between Baghdad, Erbil, and international oil companies to resume exports of Kurdish oil through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline.
"DNO is pleased that exports of oil from the Kurdistan Region have been unlocked and will now flow to international markets," Executive Chairman Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani said in a statement.
"We have elected not to engage directly in exports at this time and will continue to sell our oil on a monthly, cash-and-carry, basis to our buyers at a per barrel price in the low USD 30s," he added.
The Norwegian oil giant said it will “deliver the Kurdistan Regional Government's share of sales from the Company's operated Tawke license, currently averaging 38,000 barrels a day, for export. The balance of the oil, representing the share of sales of the foreign contractor group consisting of DNO and Genel Energy International Limited, currently averaging 30,000 barrels a day, will continue to be sold to local buyers under existing contracts."
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and most of the international oil companies operating in the Region announced this week that they had reached an agreement with Baghdad to resume oil exports though the Iraq-Turkey pipeline, more than two years after they were suspended following a court ruling.
The Association of the Petroleum Industry of Kurdistan (APIKUR), an umbrella group of oil producers operating in the Kurdistan Region that DNO is part of, has already welcomed the tripartite agreement. DNO, which is owed a large sum in arrears, and its partner Genel Energy have not signed the agreement, well-placed sources told Rudaw.
Rahmani said that they "understand our buyers have set up their own arrangements to place oil purchased from us into the export pipeline, a move we welcome as it supports the larger export project."
Gulf Keystone, which operates the Sheikhan field, said on Friday it is pleased it and other international oil producers signed agreements with Erbil and Baghdad that will allow the resumption of Kurdish oil exports.
“The restart of Kurdistan crude exports via the Iraq-Türkiye Pipeline is a historic milestone for Gulf Keystone, Kurdistan and Iraq that is expected to unlock significant value for all stakeholders,” it said.