ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Sources from three international oil companies (IOCs) operating in the Kurdistan Region deny that a tripartite agreement with Baghdad and Erbil for oil exports has been renewed, with one of them predicting the deal to be signed on Thursday.
The sources spoke on the condition of anonymty due to the sensitivity of the issue.
The tripartite agreement was previously signed on September 22, 2025, to ensure that 230,000 barrels per day of oil produced from fields in the Kurdistan Region would be handed over to the State Organization for Marketing of Oil (SOMO) for sale through Turkey’s Ceyhan port.
"We expect to renew the tripartite agreement tomorrow," said one of the sources on Wednesday.
Earlier on Wednesday, Ali Nizar, director of SOMO, told Rudaw that the tripartite agreement has already been renewed.
Meanwhile, a source at the North Oil Company (NOC) told Rudaw: “The tripartite agreement was renewed in Erbil about 20 days ago and was sent to the Iraqi Ministry of Oil so that it could be formally approved and put into effect. However, one of the sources from the IOCs told Rudaw: “SOMO renewed the agreement yesterday and sent it to Erbil.”
Currently, more than 200,000 barrels of Kirkuk oil are being exported through the Kurdistan Region’s pipeline to Turkey’s Ceyhan port.
In May and June, only 1.5 million barrels of oil produced from fields in the Kurdistan Region were exported through the same route.
In order to restart oil production and exports from the Kurdistan Region, the companies need the tripartite agreement to be renewed. One of the sources from the IOCs said: “Without an agreement, we cannot export oil.”
The agreement between Baghdad and Erbil on oil exports is part of a broader package for resolving their financial issues, including the federal Ministry of Finance sending the Kurdistan Region’s share of salaries.
That agreement included a provision requiring the Kurdistan Region to hand over 120 billion Iraqi dinars in non-oil revenues in exchange for the transfer of its share of the salaries.
