Oil exports from Iraqi Kurdistan still on hold
Ceyhan petroleum operations field. Photo: BOTAS
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The Association of the Petroleum Industry of Kurdistan (APIKUR) has not been contacted by Kurdish or Iraqi officials regarding the resumption of oil flows from the Iraq-Turkey pipeline.
In a meeting with representatives of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) last Sunday, the Iraqi Oil Minister, Hayan Abdel-Ghani, declared he could work out an agreement with all parties involved, including foreign oil companies operating in Iraqi Kurdistan, to restart oil production from the oilfields in three days, according to Reuters.
APIKUR mentioned in a statement on Friday that although the talks mark a potentially good move, members of APIKUR were not given the opportunity to attend the meeting and have not received any official notification of the meeting’s results.
Turkey stopped Iraq’s exports of 450,000 barrels per day through the oil pipeline that extends from the Kurdistan region of Iraq to the Turkish port of Ceyhan on March 25.
Turkey’s decision to suspend oil exports followed an arbitration decision issued by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in Paris.
The decision obliged Turkey to pay Baghdad $1.5 billion in compensation for damages caused by the KRG’s export of oil without permission from the federal government in Baghdad between 2014 and 2018.
The KRG began exporting crude oil independently in 2013, a step Baghdad considered illegal.
APIKUR, which includes a group of foreign and local companies working in oil production, mentioned in mid-October that the losses inflicted on the oil sector due to the suspension of the oil pipeline between Iraq and Turkey reached $7 billion.
According to the APIKUR, losses are expected to continue despite initial talks between the Iraqi and Turkish governments to resolve the outstanding issue.