Abadi claims agreement with Erbil to resume Kirkuk-Turkey oil exports 'soon'

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has claimed that Baghdad and Erbil have agreed to resume oil exports from Kirkuk to Turkey "soon.”

The premier said that Iraq is in talks with both the Kurdistan Regional Government and Turkey about the resumption of oil exports from Kirkuk to Turkey's Ceyhan port through the KRG-controlled pipeline.

Iraq has informed the Turkish government about the Kirkuk oil, Abadi said, adding that Ankara promised to express its "opinion" in about 10 days.

"Mr. Nechirvan Barzani came to Baghdad, and we talked about this issue. An agreement was made that allows [us] to first export the Kirkuk oil, and then the differences will be resolved," PM Abadi said on Tuesday about his meeting with the Kurdish prime minister on January 20 in Baghdad.

Five days later, as the two prime ministers held a meeting in Munich — the third since Kurdistan’s independence referendum — PM Barzani denied that the two sides had reached any agreement on oil, but said he was hopeful some significant progress will be made before the Iraqi elections on May 12.

Oil exports were supposed to resume in January, but some "complications" by the KRG's Ministry of Natural Resources postponed it, Abadi said, hoping that the agreement will go into effect "soon."

Kirkuk oil fields came under Iraqi control on October 16 after a military incursion by Iraqi federal forces supported by Iran-backed Hashd al-Shaabi paramilitias.

Abadi said that the Kurdistan Region must allow the resumption of Kirkuk oil in order to receive its share of the Iraqi budget for 2018.

"You [the KRG] need money now, if you don't export the Kirkuk oil, you won't receive the revenue," Abadi said on Tuesday.

The Iraqi parliament is expected to resume discussions about the budget bill for 2018 on Wednesday, but the Kurdish factions have said that they will continue to boycott the session if the Iraqi government fails to commit to allocate the KRG's 17-percent budget share.

Baghdad insists that the population in KRG-administered areas is less than 17 percent, and therefore is entitled to 12.67 percent.

The Iraqi government on Monday extended the ban on international flights to and from the Kurdistan Region until May 31, a decision described as "political" in nature by Masrour Barzani, the head of the Kurdistan Region Security Council.

He said that the Kurdish government has respected all of its constitutional duties, and it is now up to Iraq to do its part.

The Kurdish delegation headed by PM Barzani reached an agreement with Abadi while in Munich on January 25, Masrour Barzani claimed.

"We talked and I can say that we even reached an agreement on how to open the airports, but every day they find another excuse. It is clear now that the motive is political, not technical. There are no remaining excuses to close the airports for any longer," Masrour Barzani told Rudaw while in Washington on Tuesday.