KRG resumes oil exports

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Kurdistan Region’s oil exports have fully resumed about a week after the pipeline to Turkey was damaged in an attack claimed by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). 

“The Kurdistan Regional Government resumed oil exportation with the same capacity as before,” tweeted spokesperson Jotiar Adil.  

Rudaw understands that the resumption began on Wednesday. 

On October 30, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) announced a “terrorist attack” on its oil exportation pipeline that brings crude to Turkey’s Ceyhan port. A day earlier, the PKK claimed it carried out a “successful sabotage action” on the Botas oil pipeline in Turkey’s Mardin province on October 28.

Based on 2019 figures for the KRG’s oil exports, it roughly lost over $86 million in net cash during the week the pipeline was under repairs. 

Oil is the main source of livelihood for the KRG and the loss of a week of oil exports will likely have an impact on its finances. Erbil, under a financial crisis, is unable to pay public sector salaries without assistance from Baghdad.