Iraq exports 2.5M barrels of Kurdish crude as oil flows normalize

Shafaq News – Erbil

Iraq has exported roughly 2.5 million barrels of crude from the Kurdistan Region since shipments resumed late last month, a senior official from the State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) said on Tuesday.

Hamdi Shingali, SOMO’s deputy director, told Shafaq News that export operations have “returned to normal,” adding that Baghdad, Erbil, and international oil companies are likely to renew their tripartite export agreement by the end of the year.

Oil exports from the Kurdistan Region restarted on September 27 after a suspension lasting more than two and a half years, with current flows averaging 190,000 barrels per day through the Fishkhabur–Ceyhan pipeline.

Read more: Pipe dream or partnership? Iraq’s oil restart tests a fragile federal compact

The resumption followed months of talks between Iraq’s Oil Ministry and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Ministry of Natural Resources, culminating in a deal allowing SOMO to oversee and market Kurdish crude through Turkiye’s Ceyhan port.

Exports had been halted on March 25, 2023, after an international arbitration ruling ordered Turkiye to stop loading Kurdish oil without Baghdad’s consent — a decision that froze one of Iraq’s key export routes and cost both governments billions in lost revenue.

Read more: Iraq-Turkiye pipeline dispute: Billions in damages unresolved