On March 28, eight Republican members of Congress urged President Joe Biden in a letter to make the immediate reopening of the Iraq-Turkey Pipeline a precondition for any visit by Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ Al Sudani, ensuring the resumption of the Kurdistan Region’s oil exports.
On March 25, 2023, independent crude exports from the Kurdistan Region through Turkey were stopped after an international arbitration court in Paris ruled in favor of Baghdad against Ankara. This has blocked 450,000 barrels per day of crude oil exports.
Iraqi Prime Minister Sudani is planning to visit Washington, D.C., on April 15.
Senator Ted Budd (R-North Carolina), Senator Bill Hagerty (R-Tennessee), Senator Rick Scott (R-Florida), Representative Jake Ellzey (Texas-06), Representative French Hill (Arkansas-02), Representative Mike Turner (Ohio-10), and Representative Mike Waltz (Florida-06) in a letter wrote that the Biden administration needs to shore “up support for our partners in Kurdistan.”
“As a precondition of any visit by Prime Minister al-Sudani, you should require the immediate reopening of the Iraq-Turkey Pipeline so that the Kurdistan Region is able to export oil.”
Moreover, the member of Congress said the Biden administration must also require that the Iraqi government resume funding for the Kurdistan Region and prepare for “the immediate sale of Kurdistan crude already at the Ceyhan port, and a full cycle of oil sales and payments to Kurdistan and its oil investors.”
Read More: Kurdistan Oil Association Urges Washington to Push Baghdad to Resume Oil Exports
The Association of the Petroleum Industry of Kurdistan (APIKUR) in a statement on March 23 called on the Biden administration and U.S. members of Congress to push the Iraqi government to restore Kurdish crude oil exports.
“Prior to the visit of Iraqi Prime Minister Sudani to Washington, the Government of Iraq must take action to restore oil exports through the Iraq-Turkey Pipeline and implement a fair budget for the Kurdistan Region,” Myles B. Caggins III, spokesman for APIKUR, told Kurdistan Chronicle on March 23.
During an official visit to Washington in February, Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Masrour Barzani called on the Biden administration to accelerate the resumption of oil exports.
Productive talks with @POTUS Advisor Amos Hochstein today on ways to accelerate the resumption of oil exports from the Kurdistan Region.
— Masrour Barzani (@masrourbarzani) March 1, 2024
The lack of exports has hurt everyone — costing billions in lost revenues. It makes no sense.
We will double down efforts. pic.twitter.com/3EOeymXiwA
“The lack of exports has hurt everyone — costing billions in lost revenues. It makes no sense,” Prime Minister Barzani wrote on X.
Read More: U.S. Encourages Efforts to Enhance Baghdad-Erbil Ties
During a meeting between U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and Iraqi Minister of Foreign Affairs Fuad Hussein on March 26, Secretary Blinken encouraged efforts to enhance the Baghdad-Erbil relationship and extend economic benefits to all Iraqis.
