ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - More delegations from Washington are expected to visit Baghdad and Erbil with a focus on the resumption of stalled oil exports, the spokesperson for the international oil companies working in the Kurdistan Region said on Saturday. “We are likely to see more high-level visits from Washington leaders in the State Department to Baghdad and Erbil. We had the under-secretary visiting Baghdad and Erbil and the Yazidi area. So these high-level visits are always talking about oil as well,” Myles Caggins, spokesperson for the Association of the Petroleum Industry of Kurdistan (APIKUR), told Rudaw on Saturday. “They are bringing a message from President [Joe] Biden to talk to all of these sides to say ‘Let’s get the oil back to the pipeline',” said Caggins. Oil exports from the Kurdistan Region through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline have been halted 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 begin independent oil exports in 2014. Despite several talks between Kurdish, Iraqi, and Turkish officials, exports have yet to resume and many international oil companies have suspended production, resulting in billions of dollars in lost revenue. US Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights Uzra Zeya visited Baghdad and Erbil on Thursday to discuss protection of human rights and promotion of press freedom. There was no mention of oil exports in official statements about her meetings. Caggins also told Rudaw on Saturday that the APIKUR has told Congress, the White House, and the State Department “that this an important issue for the economic strength of Iraq and, of course, where we see a strong economy we also find better security. So this is why Washington is bringing this message to Baghdad and Erbil.”
