Shafaq News / The Kurdistan Regional Government announced on Monday that it is close to reaching an agreement to resume oil exports from the region through the Ceyhan Port in Turkey. The government emphasized the importance of approving the 2023 budget to activate the agreement.
According to Bewar Khansi, an advisor to the Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region, "The talks between Baghdad and Erbil are intensifying to reach an agreement on the export of oil from the Kurdistan Region via the Ceyhan Port."
Khansi added that "the talks are in their final stages, and there is only a little left to reach an agreement," stressing "the necessity of approving the 2023 budget project to accelerate the approval of the export of the region's oil, as it represents an important part of the general budget."
The advisor to the Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region further stated that "the export of the region's oil will resume soon, and the agreement between the two governments will be signed by the Prime Minister of the federal government and the Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region, Masrour Barzani, according to the current signals and data."
Yesterday, Sunday, the Iraqi Ministry of Oil affirmed the federal government's keenness to expedite the resumption of oil exports from the Kurdistan Region via the Ceyhan Port, and to bring views closer "for the public good."
On Saturday, March 25, the Federal Oil Ministry announced winning the arbitration lawsuit brought by Iraq against Turkey regarding the export of crude oil from the Kurdistan Region via the Ceyhan Port. The ministry also stated that it would discuss the mechanism for exporting via the same port with the relevant parties in the region and authorities in Ankara, according to new data.
Iraq suspended the export of 450,000 barrels per day of crude oil from the Kurdistan Region and the fields of Kirkuk in the north, after the country won a long-term arbitration case against Turkey.
In a case dating back to 2014, Baghdad claimed that Turkey had violated a joint agreement by allowing the Kurdistan Regional Government to export oil through a pipeline to the Ceyhan Port.