Baghdad to discuss amending Iraqi Kurdistan’s oil contracts in December
A worker controlling a valve in an oil refinery in northern Iraq. Photo: AFP
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – Iraqi officials in the oil sector plan to meet with representatives of international oil companies and Iraqi Kurdish officials in early December to discuss contract amendments focusing on the latest efforts to resume oil exports from northern Iraq through Turkey.
The Undersecretary of the Ministry of Oil for Extraction Affairs, Bassem Khudair, told Reuters that the resumption of crude oil exports from the Kurdistan region of Iraq, which have been halted since March, depends on negotiations to change current production-sharing to profit-sharing contracts.
Khudair explained that if an agreement is reached with these companies to change their contracts, oil exports through Turkey will be resumed.
“We expect to reach an agreement with the companies. These companies want to continue working in the region without any problems,” Khudair added.
Turkey stopped oil exports of 450,000 barrels per day from northern Iraq on March 25 after the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) ruled in an arbitration case.
The ruling ordered Turkey to pay compensation of $1.5 billion to Iraq for the damage it suffered due to the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) unauthorized export of oil between 2014 and 2018.