ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani on Wednesday said that his government is ready to resume the exportation of oil from Kirkuk and Kurdistan Region to Turkey months after the process was suspended due to an arbitration case between Ankara and Baghdad. Oil exports 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 the latter had breached a 1973 agreement by allowing Erbil to begin independent oil exports in 2014. The Iraqi government “is ready to resume the export of oil through Turkey’s Ceyhan pipeline,” Sudani said during the Russian Energy Week conference in Moscow. He added that there is a “good understanding” between the government and oil companies in this regard. The lack of oil flow has incurred around $6 billion of losses towards the Kurdish and Iraqi governments since March. Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani said on Tuesday that the resumption of the oil export depends on Baghdad not Turkey. Turkey has said the issue is between Erbil and Baghdad. Last week, Turkey’s energy minister announced that the Iraq-Turkey pipeline is ready for operations. Turkish officials have stated that the pipeline was closed due to much-needed repairs after the devastating February earthquake. About 400,000 barrels of oil were being exported daily by Erbil through the pipeline which runs to the Turkish port of Ceyhan before the halt, in addition to some 75,000 barrels from Kirkuk oil fields controlled by the Iraqi government. “Iraq aims to diversify its energy sources, reducing reliance on oil for its economy,” said the Iraqi premier. “Our government is actively pursuing global energy transformation through carbon reduction and energy efficiency initiatives,” he added.
