The Association of the Petroleum Industry of Kurdistan (APIKUR), which represents several international oil companies (IOCs) in the Kurdistan Region, on Friday stated that the oil companies will not resume exports until Baghdad honors their contracts and provides payment guarantees for past and future exports.

APIKUR said that the IOCs, along with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), have been negotiating with the government of Iraq (GOI), including directly with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani’s office, to reach a resolution to resume exports through the Iraqi-Turkiye Pipeline.

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, but so far Kurdish oil exports have not been resumed due to the disagreements between the IOCs and Baghdad over payments.

“We understand today the Ministry of Oil has demonstrated it is unwilling to negotiate a solution that honors the IOCs’ contract sanctity and is attempting to establish a process to unilaterally alter the economic framework of legal and valid contracts between the KRG and IOCs.” 

APIKUR underlined that these actions by the Ministry of Oil “are not acceptable, and the member companies of APIKUR will not resume exports until there is commitment from the GOI to honor our contracts including payment surety for past and future exports.”