ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - An association of international oil companies (IOCs) said on Friday that the Iraqi government is "unwilling" to negotiate a solution that honors their contracts with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and is instead trying to unilaterally alter them.
"We understand today the Ministry of Oil has demonstrated it is unwilling to negotiate a solution that honors IOCs contract sanctity and is attempting to establish a process to unilaterally alter the economic framework of legal and valid contracts between the KRG and IOCs," the Association of the Petroleum Industry of Kurdistan’s (APIKUR), an umbrella group of eight international oil firms, said in a statement.
Oil exports from the Kurdistan Region through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline were halted in March 2023 following a ruling by a Paris-based arbitration court in favor of Baghdad, which claimed Ankara had violated a 1973 pipeline agreement by permitting Erbil to independently export oil starting in 2014.
Despite months of talks between Erbil, Baghdad, Turkey and APIKUR, and with American pressure, the exports remain stalled.
The companies, which operate in the Kurdistan Region, warned that attempts to change the contracts are "not acceptable," and said "the member companies of APIKUR will not resume exports until there is commitment from the GOI [Government of Iraq] to honor our contracts including payment surety for past and future exports."
APIKUR also highlighted the necessity of formal sales and lifting agreements for future oil exports, in addition to written guarantees for the payment of “oil delivered but not paid between October 2022 and March 2023.” Payments must be made “directly and transparently” to the companies without intermediaries or undue delays, the association said earlier this month.
The Iraqi parliament in early February approved amendments to the federal budget law that authorized a $16 per barrel production and transport fees for Erbil and international oil companies (IOCs) operating in the Kurdistan Region. This move was seen as crucial to restarting Kurdish oil exports.
The amendments also stipulated that the Iraqi federal government and the KRG must establish an international technical consultant body within 60 days to assess production and transportation costs for oil fields in the Kurdistan Region. If no agreement is reached, the federal council of ministers will appoint the body.
The federal government had said the oil exports could restart this month, but disputes over the contracts remain a final hurdle.
The lengthy halt to the oil exports has cost billions of dollars in lost revenue.
Updated at 11:59 pm
