The federal ministry expressed in a statement its "keenness" on the resumption of the Kurdistan Region's oil exports which have been halted since March last year.
"The Ministry of Oil invited the Ministry of Natural Resources in the [Kurdistan] region and the international companies operating the fields located in the region to hold a meeting in Baghdad as soon as possible for the purpose of discussing the [KRG oil exports] issue and reaching an agreement to accelerate the restart of production and resume the export of oil through the Turkish Ceyhan port and according to the quantities specified in the budget law," the ministry added in the statement.
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 against Ankara, saying the latter had breached a 1973 pipeline agreement by allowing Erbil to begin independent oil exports in 2014.
Association of the Petroleum Industry of Kurdistan (APIKUR), an association of oil companies working in the Kurdistan Region, welcomed the invitation from Baghdad.
"APIKUR member companies welcome the invitation from the Iraqi ministry of oil to meet to discuss an agreement to resume oil exports from Kurdistan Region through the pipeline. Currently we have not received specific invitations but we have an open line of communication with the ministry of natural resources and the ministry of oil," Myles Caggins, APIKUR spokesperson, told Rudaw English.
Despite several talks between Kurdish, Iraqi, and Turkish officials, the exports have yet to resume, and many international oil companies have suspended production.
APIKUR in a statement on Tuesday that “recent media reports that mistakenly point to a lack of flexibility from IOCs [International oil companies] as the reason for the continuing impasse on resumption of oil exports via the ITP [Iraq-Turkey pipeline].”
“Such reports suggest that there are ongoing talks that have stalled due to an intransigent position taken by IOCs. However, no joint discussions between IOCs and representatives of the KRG [Kurdistan Regional Government] and the GoI [Government of Iraq] have occurred since January 7-9, 2024,” it added.
