London/Bagdad: Although Iraq’s federal government stated on Thursday that shipments will resume immediately, sources close to the situation said on Friday that a restart of Iraq’s Kurdish oil exports is not near. Since February, Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government have been negotiating to break the impasse that has stopped supplies from the country’s north reaching the port of Ceyhan in Turkey. Before the pipeline closure in March 2023, the KRG was producing around 435,000 barrels per day (bpd).
Despite drone attacks that have stopped half of the region’s oil production, the federal authorities announced Thursday that Iraqi Kurdistan will immediately restart oil shipments through the pipeline to Turkiye. However, a source at APIKUR, a consortium of Kurdistan-based oil businesses, stated on Friday that formal agreements were required before a restart could take place. No plans have been made for a restart, according to someone at KAR Group, the company that runs the pipeline.
According to a KRG government source, Baghdad and the firms have not yet reached a consensus on how to resume exports. Additionally, a source at the Ceyhan airport in Turkey stated that no preparations had been made for the restoration of shipments. KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said in a statement on Thursday that the administration had accepted a shared arrangement with the federal government and was awaiting financial information.
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