KIRKUK, Kurdistan Region—Oil exports from Kirkuk started last week through the Turkish port of Ceyhan to international buyers, said Iraq’s Oil Minister.
“We will send 170,000 bpd through Kurdish pipelines and expect our total export to exceed 4 million bpd this year,” Oil Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi told the Qatari al-Arab al-Jadid daily.
Abdul-Mahdi said that the agreement with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) last month has facilitated the export of Kirkuk oilfields through the Kurdish pipelines.
The Iraqi oil minister said that the Baghdad-Erbil agreement has come into effect and that both sides are committed to it.
The central government will give to the KRG its 17 percent of the revenues, Abdul-Mahid added.
According to Iraqi ministry officials 2.94 million bpd was exported in December at a price of $57.
Kurdish officials said that clashes between the Peshmerga and Islamic State (ISIS) militants for the recapture of areas south of Kirkuk has not affected the oil industry.
“ISIS still is in control of some remote Kurdish villages in the Hamrin area, but we have blocked every road towards Kirkuk,” said Lieutenant Hiwa Abdullah, adding that the villages had been evacuated in advance and only ISIS militants are now stationed there.
