Iraq To Resume Kurdish Oil Export Via Turkiye After 17-Month Halt

(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) IBRIL, Aug 6 (KUNA) -- Iraqi Oil Minister Hayyan Abdul Ghani announced, Wednesday, that Baghdad has begun receiving 80,000 barrels of oil per day from the Kurdistan Region to be consolidated and exported through Turkiye's Ceyhan port.
The oil shipments are expected to resume Wednesday or Thursday after being suspended since March 2023.
Speaking during a visit to North Oil Company in Kirkuk, Abdul Ghani said negotiations with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) are ongoing, and coordination with the region's Ministry of Natural Resources allows State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) to manage the exports.
He noted that Kurdistan's fields currently produce about 130,000 barrels daily, with 50,000 barrels used for local consumption and the remaining 80,000 allocated for export.
The minister also revealed plans to raise Kirkuk's oil production to 600,000 barrels per day, with support from a development contract with the British multinational oil and gas company, BP, for the province's four main fields. Current production exceeds 350,000 barrels daily.
The export resumption follows a recent agreement between the KRG and the federal government under which the region will deliver 230,000 barrels per day to SOMO and transfer 120 billion dinars in monthly revenue to Baghdad in exchange for public sector salary payments.
Recent attacks on the region's oil infrastructure in mid-July temporarily disrupted 140,000-150,000 barrels per day of production, causing daily losses estimated at USD 10 million. (end)
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