Spanish
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani announced this Thursday a "historic" agreement with the authorities of Iraqi Kurdistan, whereby the Federal Ministry of Oil will control the export of crude oil produced in the oil fields of this semi-autonomous region in the north of the country.
"Today, we reached a historic agreement according to which the Federal Ministry of Oil will receive the crude oil produced in the fields of the Iraqi Kurdistan region and export it through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline," Al Sudani stated in a brief message on his official X profile.
According to the president, "this guarantees a fair distribution of wealth, the diversification of export outlets and the promotion of investment. An achievement that has been in the making for 18 years."
The Ministry of Oil detailed in a statement the commitment of the Kurdish authorities to deliver all the oil production from their fields, "except for the quantities destined for internal consumption", to the State Organization for the Marketing of Oil (SOMO) in Iraq, which will subsequently export it through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline, passing through the Turkish port of Ceyhan.
"This agreement is the result of intense efforts and continuous debates over the past months, stemming from a shared national vision aimed at strengthening Iraq's role as a key player in the global energy market, preserving Iraqi sovereignty, and rigorously defending its national interests and the rights of all Iraqis," the cabinet noted.
The agreement includes the establishment of clear technical and regulatory mechanisms to ensure the smooth flow of exports and the transparency of oil revenues; all this aimed at "strengthening the State's public finances and increasing federal budget revenues".
Oil exports from the Kurdistan region via the Iraq-Turkey pipeline have been suspended since March 2023, following a ruling by a Paris-based arbitration court in favor of Baghdad.
The court determined that Ankara had violated a 1973 pipeline agreement by allowing Erbil to independently export oil since 2014.
Last June, the Iraqi Ministry of Oil urged the Kurdistan regional government to comply with the law that obliges the autonomous region to deliver the oil from its fields to the federal body for export and deposit in the public treasury, after recording losses due to its non-compliance.
According to the ministry, the Kurdistan's non-compliance had generated a double detriment: the loss of revenue from the oil not exported from the region and the forced reduction of production in other Iraqi oil fields to comply with the OPEC quota, which includes Kurdish production in its calculations.
