Iraq Resumes Kurdish Oil Exports After UN-Brokered Deal
Iraq's oil exports from the Kurdish Regional Administration (KRG) have restarted after a months-long halt. The International Chamber of Commerce's ruling in March 2023 had frozen the region's official oil exports. The resumption follows a deal between Baghdad and Erbil, mediated by the United Nations.
Oil shipments from the KRG region recommenced on Sept. 27, flowing through the Iraq-Türkiye pipeline. The twin-line pipeline, with a combined capacity of about 1.5 million barrels per day, connects Iraqi oil fields to the Mediterranean export terminal at the Turkish port of Ceyhan. The Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shiaa al-Sudani confirmed that oil produced in fields within the KRG region would now be exported through this pipeline.
The director of Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organisation (SOMO) revealed that SOMO would receive 190,000 barrels per day for export and another 50,000 barrels per day for domestic consumption. Previously, the Kurdish authorities independently sold oil without federal government approval through the port of Ceyhan. This practice has now ceased.
The resumption of oil exports from the KRG region is expected to boost Iraq's overall oil production and exports. The deal between Baghdad and Erbil, facilitated by the UN, has resolved a long-standing dispute over control of lucrative oil exports. The Iraq-Türkiye pipeline is now fully operational, with oil exports resuming at the Fishkhabur oil field.
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