International efforts intensify to resolve KRI oil export crisis

Shafaq News / During the "Kurdish Diplomacy Week" seminar held at Saladin University in Erbil, the head of the Foreign Relations Department in the Kurdistan Region, Safeen Dizayee, announced on Sunday that the United States, the United Kingdom, and France have escalated their efforts to address the issue of resuming oil exports from the Kurdistan Region through the pipeline to the Turkish port of Ceyhan. This initiative comes after a six-month hiatus in exports.

In his speech, Dizayee emphasized that "despite the Kurdistan Region's oil not being exported for several months, the region maintains its position on the global energy map." He highlighted international endeavors aimed at reintroducing Kurdistan's oil to the global market, indicating, "The United States, France, and the United Kingdom are working to resolve the issue between Baghdad and Ankara to resume oil exports from the Kurdistan Region."

Dizayee noted that since March 25th, due to the suspension of Kurdistan's oil exports following the International Chamber of Commerce's ruling in Paris, Iraq has incurred "nearly 5.5 billion dollars in financial losses."

Earlier this month, the Turkish Energy Minister, Alparslan Bayraktar, confirmed that the pipeline transporting oil from the Kurdistan Region and Kirkuk is ready to operate as of Wednesday, ending a nearly six-month hiatus. He stated that there are no longer any obstacles to shipping Iraqi oil to global markets.

Turkey suspended flows through the oil export route from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq after a ruling by the International Chamber of Commerce that required Ankara to pay compensation to Baghdad for unauthorized exports between 2014 and 2018.