Oil exports from northern Iraq to Turkiye will resume: Iraqi officials

Iraq’s Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) announced on Tuesday that oil exports through Turkiye’s Ceyhan pipeline would resume later in the day, following a pause of more than a week caused by a long-running international arbitration case between Iraq and Turkiye, Anadolu News Agency reports.

Head of KRG Foreign Media Affairs, Lawk Ghafuri, said on Twitter that oil exportation through Ceyhan would resume today.

READ: Iraq halts northern crude exports after winning arbitration case against Turkiye

“Today, [KRG] Prime Minister @masrourbarzani [Masrour Barzani] will land in Baghdad to sign the final agreement with the Iraqi PM @mohamedshia [Mohammed Shia al-Sudani] to resume oil exportation through Ceyhan,” Ghafuri said.

Barzani also confirmed on Twitter that he would arrive in Baghdad to finalise the agreement regarding the resumption of oil exports from Iraq’s Kurdish region.

On 25 March, Iraq halted crude exports from the KRG’s northern Kirkuk fields after Iraq won an arbitration case against Turkiye.

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) ordered both parties to pay compensation for various violations.

Turkiye’s Energy Ministry said the issue was “a reflection of a years-long dispute” between the Iraqi central government and KRG over sharing oil revenues.

With its proven oil reserves of approximately 145 billion barrels, Iraq is the fifth-largest producer in the world and the second-biggest OPEC producer, with a daily production of more than 4.5 million barrels.

The country has been in a deadlock for years due to the misuse of resources and the unfair distribution of oil revenues.

READ: EXPLAINER – What is the Iraq-Turkiye oil pipeline dispute and who is on the hook?