“APIKUR welcomes the formation of the Baghdad-Erbil committees, recently announced by the Iraqi Minister of Oil with the stated goal to restore oil exports through the Iraq Türkiye pipeline. We are awaiting official notification of international oil companies’ role in these critical negotiations." Myles B. Caggins, the association’s spokesperson, said in a statement.
Iraqi Oil Minister Hayyan Abdul Ghani told reporters on Thursday that two joint Baghdad-Erbil committees have been formed to resolve the contract situation between Erbil and the international oil companies (IOCs) as they are production-sharing contracts - agreements he said are incompatible with the Iraqi constitution.
The committees will meet next week to work towards resuming the flow of oil, he added.
Oil exports from the Kurdistan Region through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline have been halted since March 23, 2023 after a Paris-based arbitration court ruled in favor of Baghdad against Ankara, saying the latter had breached a 1973 agreement by allowing Erbil to begin independent oil exports in 2014.
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.
“There has not yet been an agreement with the Kurdistan Regional Government on handing over the oil produced in the Region to the federal oil ministry,” the Iraqi oil minister said on Thursday, adding that there are “differences regarding contracts signed with the international companies.”
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani visited the US in mid-April, meeting with US President Joe Biden. The resumption of Kurdistan Region’s oil exports was one of the topics discussed.
Sudani and Biden “affirmed the importance of ensuring Iraqi oil can reach international markets and expressed their desire to reopen the Iraq-Turkiye Pipeline,” according to a joint statement between the two leaders following their meeting.
