U.S. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz spoke with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani on Sunday morning and urged the Iraqi government to work with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to address remaining contract disputes owed to U.S. oil companies.
“The National Security Advisor urged the Iraqi government to work with the KRG to address remaining contract disputes and pay arrears owed to U.S. energy companies, and also requested that the Iraqi government retain an investment coordinator to work with U.S. companies seeking to invest and operate in Iraq,” Waltz posted on X.
National Security Advisor Mike Waltz spoke on Sunday morning with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shiaa al-Sudani. The National Security Advisor wished Prime Minister Al-Sudani a Ramadan Kareem, and expressed his concerns regarding the recent flooding in Baghdad.
— Mike Waltz (@MikeWaltz47) March 9, 2025
⁰Mr. Waltz…
On March 25, 2023, Kurdish crude oil exports through Turkiye were stopped after an international arbitration court ruled in favor of Baghdad against Ankara, halting 450,000 barrels per day of crude oil exports to international markets.
The two-year suspension of oil exports through the Iraq-Turkey Pipeline (ITP) has severely impacted the Kurdistan Region’s economy, leading to a significant reduction in government revenues.
Meanwhile, despite multiple agreements and negotiations, Baghdad has not fully reinstated the Kurdistan Region’s full share of the federal budget. The ongoing disputes over oil revenues and financial entitlements have strained relations between Erbil and Baghdad, affecting public sector salaries and overall economic stability in the region.
APIKUR member companies reiterate that they are ready to immediately resume exports through the Iraq-Türkiye Pipeline as soon as the conditions communicated repeatedly since November 2023 are met, that treats oil producers in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region in a similar manner as oil… pic.twitter.com/PQE1QmR6H5
— APIKUR (@apikur_oil) March 7, 2025
On February 2, the Iraqi parliament voted for an amendment to the Iraqi federal budget law stipulating the cost of extracting and transporting the Kurdistan Region’s oil, paving the legal way to resume the Kurdish oil exports. However, oil exports have not yet resumed.
Two meetings have been held involving KRG Ministry of Natural Resources officials, Kurdistan-based international oil companies, and the authorities in Baghdad to negotiate the resumption of oil exports. However, the meetings have not reached a result.
Furthermore, the Association of the Petroleum Industry of Kurdistan, which represents several international oil companies in the Kurdistan, in a statement on March 7 reiterated “that they are ready to immediately resume exports through the ITP as soon as the conditions communicated repeatedly since November 2023 are met, that treats oil producers in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region in a similar manner as oil producers in Federal Iraq.”
