ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The prime minister of the Kurdistan Region discussed the resumption of oil exports in a phone call with a United States energy official, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) announced on Friday.
“Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Masrour Barzani and U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Affairs Geoffrey Pyatt held a telephone discussion focused on strengthening bilateral relations and resuming oil exports from the Kurdistan Region,” the KRG stated.
The two “stressed the urgency of resolving outstanding issues and removing barriers to oil exports, highlighting the suspension's detrimental impact on Iraq’s budget and economic stability,” the statement added.
Oil exports from the Kurdistan Region through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline have been suspended since March 2023 after a Paris-based arbitration court ruled in favor of Baghdad that Ankara had breached a 1973 pipeline agreement by allowing Erbil to export oil independently since 2014.
The stoppage has meant billions of dollars in lost income.
“The delay has hurt Iraq’s economy as a whole - over $25 billion in lost revenue to date,” Barzani shared in a post on X.
Erbil and Baghdad have had numerous discussions about resuming the exports. The main point of contention has been fees paid to international oil companies. In November, the Iraqi government agreed to amend the federal budget, but the parliament went into recess without voting on the changes.
