Northern Iraq’s oil exports halt causes $7 billion losses
A worker adjusts valve gears of pipes linked to oil tanks at Turkey’s port of Ceyhan. Photo: Reuters
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The Association of the Petroleum Industry of Kurdistan (APIKUR) said on Wednesday that Iraq lost $7 billion since oil exports from northern Iraq through the Iraqi-Turkish oil pipeline were suspended last March.
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 Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) began exporting crude oil independently in 2013, a step Baghdad considered illegal.
The APIKUR mentioned in a statement that the Iraqi government, the KRG, and international oil companies have collectively lost $7 billion in revenues since March.
The statement added that the suspension of oil exports from Iraqi Kurdistan negatively affected employees and Iraqi people depending on the investments of oil companies operating in northern Iraq.
Turkey began maintenance work on the pipeline, which, according to Turkish officials, passes through a seismically active area and was damaged by floods.