ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s oil ministry is “very close” to reaching a final agreement with the Kurdistan Region to resume oil exports, a senior ministry official told Rudaw on Wednesday, adding that talks are also ongoing with Ankara to negotiate a new oil export agreement through the Turkish port of Ceyhan.
Speaking to Rudaw on condition of anonymity, the official confirmed, “We are very close to a final agreement” with Erbil, adding that once exports resume, “the Kurdistan Region’s oil will be sold exclusively through [the State Organization for Marketing of Oil] SOMO,” Iraq’s national oil marketer.
For his part, Ali Nizar Faiq, general director of SOMO, confirmed to Rudaw on Wednesday that the company is prepared to “receive and sell” oil from the Kurdistan Region, but noted that “the Kurdistan Region has not handed over the oil yet.”
Efforts to finalize the deal follow a mid-July agreement in which Erbil and Baghdad agreed on the daily transfer of 230,000 barrels of oil from the Kurdistan Region to SOMO for export through the Ceyhan pipeline.
Exports along that route have been suspended since March 2023, following a ruling by a Paris-based arbitration court in favor of Baghdad. The court found that Ankara had breached a 1973 pipeline agreement by allowing the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to independently export oil since 2014.
Importantly, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced in mid-July that Turkey will not renew the 1973 Iraq-Turkey pipeline agreement, which is set to expire in 2026.
However, the senior Iraqi oil ministry source told Rudaw that Baghdad is currently reviewing new proposals from Ankara. “We are reviewing proposals from the Turkish government to finalize a new agreement, and we expect to reach a deal before the deadline expires.”
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