ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdistan Region’s Council of Ministers said on Wednesday that it has met its obligations for resuming the Region’s oil exports, calling on the relevant authorities in Erbil and Baghdad to restart the process “as soon as possible.”
The Council of Ministers held its weekly meeting in Erbil on Wednesday to discuss a range of issues, particularly the Kurdish oil exports which have been suspended for over two years.
“The Council of Ministers reaffirms its unchanging position in support of negotiations and discussions between both the Oil Ministry and Natural Resources Ministry for the soonest possible resumption of oil exports,” read a statement from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
“To this end, the Council of Ministers calls on the [Kurdish] Ministry of Natural Resources, the Federal Oil Ministry, oil companies, and [Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organization] SOMO to continue coordination and negotiation in order to resolve the issues and reach an agreement as soon as possible to resume Kurdistan Region's oil exports and to prevent further financial losses to the general treasury, which have already exceeded tens of billions of dollars,” it added.
Oil exports from the Kurdistan Region through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline have been suspended since March 2023, after a Paris-based arbitration court ruled in favor of Baghdad, stating that Ankara had violated a 1973 pipeline agreement by allowing Erbil to export oil independently.
Iraq’s foreign minister said on Tuesday that Baghdad is seeking to resume Kurdish oil exports through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline and will “make every effort” to do so.
Myles Caggins, spokesperson for the Association of the Petroleum Industry of Kurdistan (APIKUR), an umbrella group of international oil companies operating in the Kurdistan Region, told Rudaw on Tuesday that Baghdad must provide written documentation of the international consultant’s audit of production and costs.
"I want to make APIKUR’s position clear. Our companies are ready to resume oil exports when we have agreements, and we need agreements for sales and also an agreement for the international consultant that is required by Iraq's budget law," he added.
In early February, the Iraqi parliament approved amendments to the federal budget law, authorizing a $16-per-barrel fee for production and transport costs in the Kurdistan Region - a move seen as a crucial step toward restarting exports.
The amendments also require both the federal government and the KRG to establish an international technical consultancy within 60 days to assess production and transportation costs for oil fields in the Kurdistan Region. If an agreement cannot be reached, the federal council of ministers will appoint the consultancy.