ERBIL, Kurdistan Region –Tuesday's landmark agreement between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and Russia’s biggest oil producer, Rosneft, is the first time the Kurdistan Region crude oil will ship directly to a major oil refiner, a KRG official with knowledge of the deal told Rudaw.
Russia’s state oil company announced the deal as part of the International Petroleum Week conference held in London, the official said, without giving details about the volume or the monetary value of the deal due to commercial confidentiality.
The deal has combined “good economics for Rosneft and good politics for Kremlin,” Chris Weafer, a partner at Macro Advisory in Moscow, told Bloomberg, adding that it is part of Russia's growing influence in the Middle East’s energy market.
The three-year pre-financed contract to export Kurdish oil was agreed to in December, but completed and finalized by the Russian oil company on Tuesday, the KRG official said.
“It reflects the growing confidence of the international oil market in KRG crude,” the official added.
The Kurdish Minister of Natural Resources Dr. Ashti Hawrami said it was a new beginning in KRG’s cooperation with Rosneft “and opens up the possibility of a broader relationship in all fields of energy cooperation with Russian Oil company Rosneft within Kurdistan.”
Rosneft’s CEO Igor Sechin said his company was looking forward to developing new international markets for Kurdish crude oil.
“The off-take and supply of Kurdish crude oil into Rosneft’s expanding worldwide refining system will further contribute to the increase in its effectiveness,” Sechin said.
The KRG Ministry of Natural Resources has not released a monthly oil report since December due to its contact with two major auditory firms who will conduct an audit into the Region’s oil and gas sector.
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