ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq is awaiting a response from Turkey “within the next 24 hours” regarding the readiness of the pipeline designated for the Kurdistan Region’s oil exports, an official from Iraq’s oil ministry said on Sunday. Mohammed Khudair, the ministry’s undersecretary, told Iraqi state media that Baghdad’s oil ministry had contacted Ankara “to inquire about the readiness of the pipeline for exports through the Ceyhan port, and we are expecting an answer within the next 24 hours.” Earlier in the day, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) announced that it had reached an agreement with the Iraqi federal government to restart oil exports from the Kurdistan Region. This announcement followed confirmation from Iraq’s oil ministry on Saturday that the necessary procedures to resume production and exports from the Kurdistan Region had been completed. The ministry further urged Kurdish authorities to begin delivering oil to Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO), which will handle exports via the Iraq-Turkey pipeline. Khudair emphasized that Iraq is committed to maintaining exports through the Ceyhan port as part of a strategic vision for strengthening Iraq-Turkey relations. He added that there is ongoing communication with the Kurdistan Region and Turkey to ensure smooth cooperation and continuous exports. Oil exports from the Kurdistan Region through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline were suspended in March 2023 after a Paris-based arbitration court ruled in favor of Baghdad against Ankara, saying the latter had violated a 1973 pipeline agreement by allowing Erbil to begin independent oil exports in 2014. Prior to the suspension, Erbil was exporting approximately 400,000 barrels of oil per day through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline, along with an additional 75,000 barrels per day from Kirkuk. Khudair noted that the suspension created "challenges for oil fields in the Kurdistan Region, which now require a rehabilitation period to restore full production capacity." He added that the target is to reach 400,000 barrels per day, which is the minimum export quantity set in the federal budget. Currently, Khudair said, “the available export quantity in the region is 300,000 barrels per day, with a portion allocated for domestic consumption, and the remaining 185,000 barrels will be allocated for export.”
