ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Iraqi government needs to ensure that International Oil Companies (IOCs) continue operating in the Kurdistan Region, a spokesperson of an association of oil producers in the Region told Rudaw on Wednesday, as the halt in oil exports continues almost a year on.
Exports of the Kurdistan Region’s oil through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline have been halted since March 23 when the Paris-based arbitration court ruled in favor of Baghdad against Ankara, stating Turkey had breached a 1973 agreement by allowing Erbil to begin independent oil exports in 2014.
In a letter addressed to the US Congress, the Association of the Petroleum Industry of Kurdistan (APIKUR) requested its assistance in “persuading” the Iraqi government to resolve the ongoing issues between Baghdad and Erbil regarding oil exports.
APIKUR spokesperson Myles Caggins told Rudaw’s Mohammed Sheikh Fatih that the aim of the letter is to “put pressure” on Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani‘s government.
Sudani is set to visit the US soon to take part in talks held within the framework of the US-Iraq Higher Military Commission (HMC). Caggins noted that the Iraqi prime minister should take action to enable IOCs to continue operating in the Kurdistan Region prior to his departure.
"We recognize that it is Baghdad that is treating the Kurdistan Region differently... it is hurting all the people of the Region, including the oil companies,” Caggins said.
Before the halt, around 400,000 barrels a day were being exported by Erbil through Ankara, in addition to some 75,000 barrels of Kirkuk’s oil.
The loss in oil revenues, the KRG’s main source of income, has worsened the financial situation and left the government unable to pay its public sector without assistance from Baghdad.
"This is a unique situation, there is no other country where a central government is stopping a region from growing, a region that the United States has a relationship with,” Caggins said regarding the lack of progress in talks aimed the resumption of the Region’s exports.
"Baghdad is preventing the Kurdistan Region from full economic prosperity,” the spokesperson added.
He stated that IOCs are also set to meet with the Ministry of Natural Resources “in the coming days,” adding that their main concern is receiving guarantees of previous payments as well as for the setting up of a mechanism for future payments.
In August, APIKUR called on both the Iraqi federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to honor the contractual rights of the IOCs and ensure they are accounted for in the implementation of the budget and future hydrocarbon laws, saying implementation of the Iraqi budget and the proposed oil and gas bill should guarantee the IOCs’ rights to cost recovery and share of profits.
Caggins called on the Iraqi government to “treat the international oil companies the same in the Kurdistan Region as in Basra and Dhi Qar,” adding that 0.4 percent of the world’s oil comes from the Region.
