ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Iraqi parliament is set to convene on Sunday to vote on an amendment to the budget law proposed by the federal government which could lead to the resumption of Kurdistan Region’s oil exports. The meeting agenda of the next session of the Iraqi parliament indicates that an amendment proposed by the Iraqi government in November to one of the sections of Article 12 of the three-year budget law will be put into a vote after passing other stages. The bill increases the amount that international oil companies (IOCs) operating in the Kurdistan Region make from producing oil which could pave the way for the resumption of Kurdish oil exports through Turkey’s Ceyhan port. On Wednesday, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani called on the parliament to pass the amendments “without modifications”. If passed, the law will authorize compensation to IOCs in the Kurdistan Region for oil production and transportation costs, setting the rate at $16 per barrel, a substantial increase from the $6.90 set in the federal budget that was passed in June 2023. The move was welcomed by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the IOCs. 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 against Ankara, saying the latter had violated a 1973 pipeline agreement by allowing Erbil to begin independent oil exports in 2014. Last week, the KRG criticized the federal government for recently withdrawing the proposed changes to Article 12. “We were surprised by a proposal sent to the parliament by the federal government’s representative in the legislature unilaterally and without consulting the [Kurdistan] Regional Government or being voted on by the federal Council of Ministers,” KRG spokesperson Peshawa Hawramani said in a statement. He added that the introduction of a new proposal contradicts with a previous decision by the federal government. Hours later, the Iraqi government denied it had retracted the proposal.
