Baghdad, Erbil reach initial deal to resume oil exports from Kurdistan
The Bai Hassan oilfield northwest of Kirkuk, Iraq. Photo: Reuters
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) announced it reached an initial agreement with the federal government to resume oil exports from the Kurdistan region of Iraq.
According to the statement of the head of foreign media affairs for the KRG, Lawk Ghafuri, on Sunday, an initial agreement has been reached to resume oil exports from the northern part of Iraq this week.
“Following several meetings between the KRG and the federal government, an initial agreement has been reached to resume oil exports through Ceyhan this week,” Ghafuri mentioned via Twitter.
Turkey had closed a pipeline extending from northern Iraq to the port of Ceyhan a week ago after Baghdad won an international arbitration case, preventing the KRG from exporting oil without obtaining the approval of the federal government.
“This agreement will remain in effect until the oil and gas law bill is approved by Iraqi Parliament,” Ghafuri explained.
The Iraqi Ministry of Oil mentioned on Sunday it hopes to reach a final agreement soon with the KRG on resuming northern oil exports.
Turkey stopped pumping about 450 thousand barrels per day of Iraqi crude from a pipeline from the Fish-Khabur border area to its Ceyhan port on March 25 after Iraq won an arbitration case, Reuters reported.
Baghdad had argued that Turkey had violated a joint agreement by allowing the KRG to export oil to Ceyhan without its consent, Reuters elaborated.
The halted flows only represent about 0.5 percent of global oil supply, but the stoppage, which forced oil firms operating in the region to halt output or move production into rapidly-filling storage tanks, still helped boost oil prices last week back to near 80 USD per barrel, Reuters added.