ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The US ambassador to Iraq on Saturday expressed optimism toward the resumption of the Kurdistan Region’s oil exports which have been halted for nearly 20 months, and stressed the importance of a united Peshmerga force.
“It was the cessation of oil exports through the Turkish pipeline that we tried to resolve. I am a little optimistic, but that takes time, and we have been an influential voice to solve that problem,” Ambassador Alina Romanowski told journalists at the US consulate in Erbil.
Romanowski stressed that only the Iraqi federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government “can solve the issue.”
On Tuesday, lawmakers in the Iraqi parliament finished the first reading of an amendment to the country’s budget law in a bid to resume the Kurdistan Region’s oil exports via the Ceyhan pipeline.
Earlier this month, the Iraqi government approved a proposal to amend articles from the federal budget to authorize compensation to companies operating in the Kurdistan Region for oil production and transportation costs, setting the rate at $16 per barrel.
Oil exports from the Kurdistan Region through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline have been halted since March of last year after a Paris-based arbitration court ruled in favor of Baghdad over Ankara, saying the latter had breached a 1973 pipeline agreement by allowng Erbil to begin independent oil exports in 2014.
Before the halt, Erbil exported around 400,000 barrels per day through the pipeline, in addition to some 75,000 barrels of Kirkuk’s oil.
Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said late last month that the halt has cost them $20 billion.
Fuad Hussein, Iraq's foreign minister, told Rudaw on November 14 that the exportation of the Kurdish oil could resume in weeks.
Romanowski also shed light on the importance of a united Peshmerga force for providing stability to the Region.
“The United States’ demand is for a unified Peshmerga force because having a strong force here will be a reason for the defeat of ISIS [Islamic State],” she said.
In September, the United States and Iraq reached an agreement regarding the military mission of the global coalition against ISIS in Iraq, set to conclude within a year, while continuing operations in northeast Syria (Rojava) for the next two years.
“To ensure the continued defeat of ISIS, we need the support of a united Peshmerga force,” Romanowski accordingly said.
She underlined American support throughout the two-year agreement to defeat and resist ISIS.
When ISIS seized swathes of Iraqi land in 2014, Peshmerga played a key role in driving the extremist group out of the areas disputed between Erbil and Baghdad, especially Kirkuk. The US-led global coalition provided Peshmerga and Iraqi forces with military assistance to defeat ISIS territorially in 2017.
The United States has provided the Peshmerga with several rounds of military aid over the years.
Baghdad and Kurdish forces have formed joint brigades and launched joint operations against ISIS to secure disputed areas that are claimed by the federal government and the KRG.
For a decade, the United States and international partners have worked with Kurdish authorities to unify the Peshmerga forces, bringing troops loyal to the rival Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) under the umbrella of the Peshmerga ministry.
Romanowski has been the US ambassador to Iraq for two and half years, with her mission set to end in December.
Payam Sarbast contributed to this report.
