ECONOMY
A DNO worker at the Tawke oil field near Zakho in Kurdistan Region's Duhok province. File photo: AFP
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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A meeting scheduled for Tuesday between the Iraqi oil ministry, the Kurdistan Region’s natural resources ministry, and oil producers in the Region has been canceled, an oil ministry source told Rudaw.
“No meeting on the resumption of Kurdistan Region’s oil exports and deals with [oil] companies will be held today,” the source told Rudaw on the condition of anonymity.
However, the source added that a meeting between the three parties took place on Monday, with its outcomes to be submitted to Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani.
Iraq’s oil ministry had previously invited foreign oil companies and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to meet on Tuesday with the goal of resolving disputes and restarting Kurdish oil exports.
The oil companies have said they will not resume exports unless key conditions, including new agreements and payment guarantees, are met in writing.
Rudaw English reached out to the Association of the Petroleum Industry of Kurdistan (APIKUR), which represents eight international oil firms, but has yet to receive a response.
The companies also want assurances that payments under Iraq’s budget amendment - requiring Baghdad to pay $16 per barrel to the KRG - will be reliably distributed to the producers.
Sabah Subhi, a member of the Iraqi parliament’s oil and gas committee, told state media on Tuesday that the oil ministry has “sent a specialized committee to Zakho” to inspect the pipelines from the Kurdistan Region to Turkish territory.
Oil exports from the Kurdistan Region through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline were halted in 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.
In February, Sudani stated that Baghdad aimed to “open a new page” with international oil companies in the Kurdistan Region after the Iraqi parliament approved a budget law amendment that raised the compensation paid for oil companies operating in the Kurdistan Region.
“No meeting on the resumption of Kurdistan Region’s oil exports and deals with [oil] companies will be held today,” the source told Rudaw on the condition of anonymity.
However, the source added that a meeting between the three parties took place on Monday, with its outcomes to be submitted to Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani.
Iraq’s oil ministry had previously invited foreign oil companies and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to meet on Tuesday with the goal of resolving disputes and restarting Kurdish oil exports.
The oil companies have said they will not resume exports unless key conditions, including new agreements and payment guarantees, are met in writing.
Rudaw English reached out to the Association of the Petroleum Industry of Kurdistan (APIKUR), which represents eight international oil firms, but has yet to receive a response.
The companies also want assurances that payments under Iraq’s budget amendment - requiring Baghdad to pay $16 per barrel to the KRG - will be reliably distributed to the producers.
Sabah Subhi, a member of the Iraqi parliament’s oil and gas committee, told state media on Tuesday that the oil ministry has “sent a specialized committee to Zakho” to inspect the pipelines from the Kurdistan Region to Turkish territory.
Oil exports from the Kurdistan Region through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline were halted in 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.
In February, Sudani stated that Baghdad aimed to “open a new page” with international oil companies in the Kurdistan Region after the Iraqi parliament approved a budget law amendment that raised the compensation paid for oil companies operating in the Kurdistan Region.
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