The Association of the Petroleum Industry of Kurdistan (APIKUR), which represents several international oil companies in the Kurdistan Region, on Friday underlined that there have been no formal agreements yet to resume oil exports.

“As has been repeatedly made clear, APIKUR member companies remain prepared to immediately resume exports as soon as formal agreements are reached to provide surety of payment for past and future exports consistent with our existing contractual legal and commercial terms,” APIKUR said.

As has been repeatedly made clear, APIKUR member companies remain prepared to immediately resume exports as soon as formal agreements are reached to provide surety of payment for past and future exports consistent with our existing contractual legal and commercial terms. There…

— APIKUR (@apikur_oil) February 28, 2025

“There has not yet been any outreach in this regard to APIKUR member companies. APIKUR member companies do not have agreements that would lead to resuming oil exports today.”

Furthermore, APIKUR applauded U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s efforts to restart oil exports from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

According to a readout of the call published by the U.S. Department of State, in a call with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani on February 25, 2025, both sides agreed on the need to quickly reopen the Iraq-Turkiye Pipeline, and to honor contractual terms for U.S. companies working in Iraq to attract additional investment.

APIKUR also welcomed Iraqi Prime Minister al-Sudani’s address to the Erbil Forum on February 26, 2025, in which he said his government is now seeking to turn a “new page” with oil companies operating in the Kurdistan Region. 

Secretary Rubio’s Call with Iraqi Prime Minister Sudanihttps://t.co/erf8IcCzGC

— U.S. State Dept - Near Eastern Affairs (@StateDept_NEA) February 26, 2025

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.

APIKUR said that the closure of this pipeline since March 2023 has denied landlocked Kurdistan’s access to a vital outlet to international markets and has affected U.S. political and commercial interests, led to market uncertainty, and threatened the region’s economic and security stability. 

“The resulting loss of revenues to Kurdistan, Iraq, and the APIKUR companies has totaled $27 billion and counting,” APIKUR said. 

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.

During the Erbil Forum on February 26, Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani stated that “Turkiye has consistently expressed its readiness to facilitate oil exports from the Kurdistan Region.

“Our view is that oil acts as both a commercial and political asset, and Iraq has faced losses estimated at around $19 to $20 billion due to the lack of support for this initiative from certain members of the Iraqi parliament. This constitutes a substantial financial setback for Iraq.

“The Iraqi authorities are ready to move forward, although there are some technical issues to resolve, such as the payment mechanisms from companies. These are logistical matters, but the essential agreement has been established, and we expect that oil exports from Kurdistan will begin shortly.”