ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani held a phone call with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday, discussing resuming Kurdish oil exports and strengthening ties between Erbil and Washington.
“The Prime Minister and the US Secretary of State agreed on the need and importance of resuming oil exports from the Kurdistan Region via the Iraq-Türkiye Pipeline,” read a statement from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
A readout from the State Department said Rubio and Barzani “agreed that reopening the Iraq-Türkiye Pipeline immediately is crucial to protecting past U.S. investments and attracting future investment.”
They also discussed “strengthening the friendship and alliance between the Kurdistan Region and the United States” and Rubio “expressed his country's gratitude to the Kurdistan Region for being a safe haven for ethnic and religious communities and for playing an important role in maintaining stability and security in the region,” according to the KRG’s statement.
The US government is pressuring Erbil and Baghdad to resume Kurdish oil exports that have been stalled since 2023. On March 19, Washington urged the Iraqi government to strike a deal with international oil companies operating in the Kurdistan Region “as soon as possible, and to honor the existing contracts with US companies.”
Myles Caggins, spokesperson for the Association of the Petroleum Industry of Kurdistan (APIKUR), an umbrella group of eight oil producers, told Rudaw after Washington’s comment that they have yet to agree on a mechanism to resume exports.
"More meetings are required. APIKUR appreciates the priority that Iraqi Prime Minister Sudani and Senior US government leaders have placed on restoring oil exports through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline," he said.
Negotiations between Iraqi and Kurdish officials, as well as with the oil producers, have yet to yield a definitive resolution despite a February amendment to the federal budget that increased the production and transport fee paid to producers to $16 per barrel. Baghdad is insisting on federal oversight, while Erbil is seeking a resolution that safeguards its economic interests.
Updated at 9:51 pm
