Genel Energy, which has been operating in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq for over 20 years, stated in their annual report on Tuesday that they will continue to work to restart oil exports if their contracts are honored.
“In the Kurdistan Region of Iraq we continue to work with our peers and the Regulator toward the restart of exports on the right terms to ensure our contracts are honored and we are paid what we are due,” Genel’s CEO Paul Weir said.
The company said that, in the Kurdistan Region, together with their operating partner DNO, they “have helped establish a reliable and consistent domestic sales market, which generates very important cash for producers there, albeit at a heavily discounted price.
“Tawke production currently realizes only around $35/bbl, which is well below relevant reference benchmark oil prices. With our peers in the Kurdistan Region, we continue to work with our host government and Federal Iraqi authorities to negotiate an arrangement that allows the resumption of international oil sales at international oil prices, and that provides appropriate returns for those producing the oil.”
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“This has proved to be a sporadic process, but most recent indicators suggest a solution should soon be found; a solution that could double Genel revenue immediately upon implementation,” the company stated.
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.
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 Kurdish oil exports. But so far exports have not resumed.
On March 16, Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Fuad Hussein discussed the renewal of the Ceyhan oil pipeline contract with Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar and “emphasized the possibility of extending it southward to enhance Iraq’s oil export capacity and deliver it to European markets.”
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Furthermore, Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Masrour Barzani also discussed the “resumption of Kurdistan Region oil exports through the Port of Ceyhan and advancing our energy cooperation” with Minister Bayraktar.
