ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkey has not yet received an update from Iraq regarding the resumption of the Kurdistan Region’s oil exports, Ankara’s energy minister stated on Wednesday, just days after Kurdish and Iraqi officials indicated the process would restart soon.
Kamal Mohammed, the Kurdistan Region’s acting natural resources minister, told Rudaw on Monday that oil exports from the Region will resume next month. However, he emphasized that Turkey’s consent is required for the oil to be transferred through its territory. On the same day, the Iraqi oil minister made similar comments, confirming that Kurdish oil exports would restart next week.
However, Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar stated on Wednesday that his country has received “nothing yet” from the Iraqi side regarding the resumption, when asked about the timeline, according to Reuters.
Oil exports from the Kurdistan Region via the Iraq-Turkey pipeline were suspended in March 2023 following a ruling by a Paris-based arbitration court, which sided with Baghdad. The court determined that Ankara violated a 1973 pipeline agreement by permitting Erbil to export oil independently starting in 2014.
Before the suspension, Erbil was exporting approximately 400,000 barrels of oil per day via the Iraq-Turkey pipeline, in addition to around 75,000 barrels of oil from Kirkuk.
In early February, the Iraqi legislature passed an amendment to the federal budget law, increasing compensation to international oil companies (IOCs) operating in the Kurdistan Region. This amendment is seen as key for the resumption of Kurdish oil exports.
Additionally, Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Berris Ekinci held several meetings with the senior Kurdish officials on Tuesday to discuss various topics, including the resumption of Kurdish oil exports through Turkey.
The Turkish diplomat lauded the agreement between Erbil and Baghdad on the process of resuming the region’s oil exports, "reaffirming Turkey's full support for the process."
The Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani and the top Turkish diplomat were also quoted as “exchanging views on efforts and steps to resume the export of Kurdistan Region's oil,” read a statement from the Kurdistan Region Presidency.
