BAGHDAD — The Iraqi oil ministry announced on Saturday that oil exports from the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq are set to resume.
This follows nearly two years during which exports were suspended after the International Chamber of Commerce ruled in favor of Iraq in an arbitration case concerning the Kurdish regional government’s independent oil exports.
According to a statement issued by the ministry, all necessary steps have been completed to restart shipments through Turkey’s Ceyhan port.
The ministry indicated that the exports will proceed in alignment with the federal budget guidelines and adhere to Iraq’s production limits established by OPEC, based on the “agreed-upon framework.”
Furthermore, the ministry has urged the authorities of the Kurdish region to allocate crude oil extracted from their oil fields to the State Organization for Marketing of Oil, which will help in facilitating exports via the pipeline connecting Iraq and Turkey.
“We encourage the regional authorities to submit the produced volumes as per the existing contracts to ensure seamless operations,” the statement emphasized.
The ongoing disputes between officials in Baghdad and Irbil, the administrative center of the Kurdish government, have revolved around the division of oil revenues.
In 2014, the Kurdish region opted to export oil independently through a pipeline directed to the Turkish port of Ceyhan, a decision that Baghdad contested, labeling it as “smuggling” and “theft.”
This prompted the central government to file a legal case against Turkey in the International Court of Arbitration, claiming that Turkey was breaching the agreement concerning the Iraqi-Turkish pipeline that dates back to 1973.
Baghdad maintains that oil exports from Irbil without the oversight of the national oil company are illegal, while Kurdish officials have argued that such exports were necessary to offset the withholding of budget allocations from Baghdad.
In March 2023, Iraq halted oil exports through the pipeline following the arbitration court’s ruling that favored the central government.
