Kurdistan
Shakhawan Abdullah, the Iraqi parliament’s second deputy speaker, speaking to Rudaw on April 16, 2023. Photo: Rudaw/screengrab
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Exports of Kurdistan Region’s oil are expected to resume in the next few days after being put on hold more than 20 days ago, a deputy leader of the Iraqi parliament told Rudaw on Sunday, citing a recent meeting with the Iraqi premier.
“He [Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani] said that they are trying to complete the administrative and technical procedures so that the oil can flow in the next one or two days,” Shakhawan Abdullah, the Iraqi parliament’s second deputy speaker, told Rudaw’s Sangar Abdulrahman.
In March, a Paris-based arbitration court ruled in favour of Iraq against Turkey, regarding exports of Kurdistan Region oil through Turkey’s Ceyhan port. The decision was followed by an immediate stoppage of Kurdish oil exports, which subsequently forced oil companies to halt their operations in the Kurdistan Region.
On April 4, Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani and Sudani signed an agreement to resume the Region’s exports, but there is still no oil flowing through the pipeline to Turkey.
Abdullah said Baghdad had been awaiting a response from Ankara to resume the exports, noting that an agreement has now been reached and “there are no more obstacles.”
He also held Baghdad responsible for providing salaries for Kurdistan Region’s civil servants, as the pause in oil exports has hampered Erbil’s ability to do so.
“I told the prime minister ‘there is a moral and responsibility in front of you to send money for salaries until the oil flow is back,’” he said, adding that the premier said he will try to include the subject on the agenda of Tuesday’s cabinet meeting.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is heavily reliant on revenues from its oil exports and an extended inability to sell its crude will severely impact its economy. The government has struggled for years to pay over a million civil servants on time and in full.
“He [Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani] said that they are trying to complete the administrative and technical procedures so that the oil can flow in the next one or two days,” Shakhawan Abdullah, the Iraqi parliament’s second deputy speaker, told Rudaw’s Sangar Abdulrahman.
In March, a Paris-based arbitration court ruled in favour of Iraq against Turkey, regarding exports of Kurdistan Region oil through Turkey’s Ceyhan port. The decision was followed by an immediate stoppage of Kurdish oil exports, which subsequently forced oil companies to halt their operations in the Kurdistan Region.
On April 4, Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani and Sudani signed an agreement to resume the Region’s exports, but there is still no oil flowing through the pipeline to Turkey.
Abdullah said Baghdad had been awaiting a response from Ankara to resume the exports, noting that an agreement has now been reached and “there are no more obstacles.”
He also held Baghdad responsible for providing salaries for Kurdistan Region’s civil servants, as the pause in oil exports has hampered Erbil’s ability to do so.
“I told the prime minister ‘there is a moral and responsibility in front of you to send money for salaries until the oil flow is back,’” he said, adding that the premier said he will try to include the subject on the agenda of Tuesday’s cabinet meeting.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is heavily reliant on revenues from its oil exports and an extended inability to sell its crude will severely impact its economy. The government has struggled for years to pay over a million civil servants on time and in full.
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