Iraqi oil minister to visit Erbil Sunday for talks on resuming exports
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraqi Oil Minister Hayyan Abdul Ghani will visit Erbil on Sunday to meet with the Kurdistan Region’s natural resources minister for discussions about resuming exports of Kurdish oil.
Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) spokesperson Peshawa Hawramani said that Abdul Ghani’s visit comes following an agreement between Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani and Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani for a federal government delegation to visit Erbil and discuss resolving the outstanding oil issues.
“The main topic of the meetings will be the issue of the cost of oil production, and the procedures for resuming the Region’s oil exports,” wrote Hawramani on X (formerly Twitter).
The federal government delegation will spend two or three days in the Kurdistan Region capital, he added.
Exports of Kurdistan Region’s oil through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline have been halted since March 23 when a Paris-based arbitration court ruled in favor of Baghdad against Ankara, saying Turkey had breached a 1973 agreement by allowing Erbil to begin independent oil exports in 2014.
Erbil and Baghdad have had multiple rounds of talks about restarting the exports. Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani last week said the problem now is technical rather than political.
Areas where they still need to reach an agreement include existing contracts between the KRG and oil companies, according to Barzani.
Representatives of the Iraqi government and oil companies operating in the Kurdistan Region on Wednesday held their first meeting in Dubai, stressing the need to resume full oil production and exports “under mutually acceptable commercial terms,” the oil producers association stated.
Control over oil exports and revenues has long been a source of friction between Erbil and Baghdad.
Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) spokesperson Peshawa Hawramani said that Abdul Ghani’s visit comes following an agreement between Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani and Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani for a federal government delegation to visit Erbil and discuss resolving the outstanding oil issues.
“The main topic of the meetings will be the issue of the cost of oil production, and the procedures for resuming the Region’s oil exports,” wrote Hawramani on X (formerly Twitter).
The federal government delegation will spend two or three days in the Kurdistan Region capital, he added.
Exports of Kurdistan Region’s oil through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline have been halted since March 23 when a Paris-based arbitration court ruled in favor of Baghdad against Ankara, saying Turkey had breached a 1973 agreement by allowing Erbil to begin independent oil exports in 2014.
Erbil and Baghdad have had multiple rounds of talks about restarting the exports. Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani last week said the problem now is technical rather than political.
Areas where they still need to reach an agreement include existing contracts between the KRG and oil companies, according to Barzani.
Representatives of the Iraqi government and oil companies operating in the Kurdistan Region on Wednesday held their first meeting in Dubai, stressing the need to resume full oil production and exports “under mutually acceptable commercial terms,” the oil producers association stated.
Control over oil exports and revenues has long been a source of friction between Erbil and Baghdad.