UAE’s TAQA sells its stake in Iraqi Kurdistan’s Atrush oilfield
TAQA’s Atrush central processing facility near Duhok in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. Photo: TAQA
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA) concluded an agreement with the British company General Exploration Partners to sell its entire stake in the Atrush oilfield in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.
TAQA said in a statement that it had concluded sales agreements, adding that final permissions from other parties were still pending.
The company did not mention the value of the deal or its ownership percentage in the oilfield.
Iraq exports Kurdistan oil via a pipeline that transports the crude to the Turkish port of Ceyhan. The pipeline has been closed for nearly 10 months and is still facing delays.
The compensation for costs constitutes the latest problem related to the pipeline that extends from Iraqi Kurdistan to Turkey, the closure of which led to a loss of revenues worth about $1 billion per month.
The Iraqi Prime Minister, Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, explained earlier that the government is discussing the amendment of relevant laws with the parliamentary financial committee as companies operating in Iraqi Kurdistan are waiting for payments to cover the production cost, according to Oil Price.
Due to a disagreement over who should approve the oil exports from Iraqi Kurdistan, around 450,000 barrels per day of oil from Iraq’s northern resources have been blocked since March. As a result, Iraq currently only sells oil through its southern oil export terminals.
On November 12, the Iraqi Oil Minister, Hayan Abdul-Ghani, announced that an agreement would be reached with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), oil companies, and Ankara to resume oil exports from Iraq to Turkey.