President Barzani stresses need to resume oil exports with Iraqi oil minister

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani on Monday emphasized the significance of resuming the Region’s oil exports in a meeting with Iraqi Oil Minister Hayyan Abdul-Ghani in Erbil, stating that the halt has caused “great loss” to Iraq’s revenue.

During the meeting, President Barzani reiterated his support for the dialogue and steps taken by Erbil and Baghdad to resolve outstanding issues relating to resuming the Region’s oil exports, and stressed the need to restart the process “as soon as possible,” according to a statement from the presidency.

“He [Barzani] highlighted that the halt in exporting the Kurdistan Region’s oil has caused great loss to Iraq’s general revenue, and therefore considered resuming the exports as soon as possible important and necessary,” read the statement.

Abdul-Ghani also stressed the Iraqi federal government and Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani’s “serious will” to resolve the issues between the two sides and restart the Kurdish oil exports.

On Sunday, KRG Natural Resources Minister Kamal Mohammed Salih received Abdul-Ghani in the Kurdish capital of Erbil, alongside his accompanying delegation from the oil ministry which included Undersecretary for Extraction Affairs Basim Muhammad Khudair, and Undersecretary for Distribution Affairs Ali Maarij al-Bahadli.

Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Sunday reiterated the Region’s willingness to restart oil exports in a meeting with the Iraqi minister.

The visit of the Iraqi delegation is the continuation of discussions between the two sides aimed at resuming the Kurdistan Region’s oil exports, “considering its importance in supplementing the federal budget with financial revenues,” according to a statement from the oil ministry.

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 held 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 President 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.