Kurdistan
Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani (right) and US special envoy for Syria, Tom Barrack. Graphic: Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani held a call on Tuesday with Tom Barrack, the US president’s special envoy, to discuss regional developments and the recent agreement between Erbil and Baghdad allowing Iraqi oil exports via the Kurdistan Region’s pipeline to Turkey, according to a statement from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
The two officials “discussed the general situation” in Kurdistan and the wider region, emphasizing “the importance of continued cooperation and coordination between the Kurdistan Region and the United States to ensure peace, stability, and security.”
They also addressed the key deal reached earlier in the day, in which the KRG approved an official federal request to export oil through the Kurdistan Region’s pipeline to Turkey’s Ceyhan port.
The approval came despite previous KRG criticism of Baghdad for enforcing a “suffocating embargo” by restricting access to official-rate US dollars for traders and failing to confront attacks by Iran-aligned armed groups targeting the Region’s energy infrastructure.
Prime Minister Barzani stated that “talks with the federal government are ongoing, and the Kurdistan Region’s team is fully prepared to facilitate oil exports to benefit the people amid these difficult circumstances.” He further stressed the importance of addressing this “public interest affair” and “requested continued US monitoring and oversight in negotiations between Erbil and Baghdad concerning customs and trade,” the statement said.
For his part, the American envoy expressed appreciation for the KRG’s readiness to cooperate with the federal government in facilitating oil exports through Turkey.
The Iraqi request comes as Baghdad’s exports have largely been halted since Iran effectively closed the strategic Strait of Hormuz due to ongoing conflict. Since then, the federal government in Baghdad has been seeking alternative routes to export crude, which accounts for around 90 percent of the country’s revenues.
A statement from the KRG’s negotiating delegation on Tuesday said the regional and federal governments “agreed to form a joint committee” comprising representatives from the federal oil ministry and the KRG’s natural resources ministry. The committee will “begin the necessary technical and administrative steps to start exporting oil to global markets through the Region's pipeline” starting Wednesday, with revenues from these exports returning to the federal treasury.
The two sides also “agreed to implement the necessary security measures to protect the safety of the oil fields,” including those in the Kurdistan Region, “and ensure the continuity of oil exports.”
The KRG reaffirmed that “it will spare no effort in taking all necessary measures to foster partnership and support efforts to address financial challenges across Iraq, aiming to provide the revenue needed for public expenditures and to secure salaries, livelihoods, and basic services.”
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