The Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Council of Ministers in a meeting on Wednesday urged the KRG’s Ministry of Natural Resources, the Federal Oil Ministry, international oil companies (IOCs), and the State Organization for Marketing of Oil to continue coordinated negotiations so that pending issues can be resolved as soon as possible and oil exports from the region can resume.
Under the supervision of KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani and with the presence of Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani, the KRG Council of Ministers convened on Wednesday to discuss the pending disputes between Baghdad and Erbil on oil.
During the meeting, Kamal Mohammed Salih, acting Minister of Natural Resources, clarified that, as far as the Ministry’s obligations toward the KRG are concerned, they have fully complied in order to expedite the start of oil exports and deposit the revenues into the federal treasury. Therefore, from the KRG’s side, there are no obstacles preventing the resumption of oil exports.
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. But despite negotiations between the oil companies, Baghdad, and Erbil, no agreement was reached to resume the exports.
In an earlier press release the Association of the Petroleum Industry of Kurdistan (APIKUR), which represents most of the IOCs in Kurdistan, said no agreement has been reached despite a meeting on April 20 between Baghdad and the KRG.
“Unfortunately, the meeting did not result in any agreements,” APIKUR stated in a press release on April 28.
Moreover, the KRG Council of Ministers reaffirmed its consistent position in supporting negotiations between the ministries of Oil and Natural Resources to expedite the resumption of oil exports.
The Council of Ministers underlined that oil exports should resume in order to prevent further financial damage to the public treasury, which has already lost tens of billions of dollars.
