Azernews.Az

By News Center

The Iraqi Ministry of Oil has announced that the procedures for re-exporting oil produced in the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) through the Port of Ceyhan have been completed. The oil shipments from Iraq to the Port of Ceyhan were halted on March 25, 2023, following the decision of the Paris-based International Court of Arbitration on oil exports between Turkiye and Iraq.

In a written statement, the Iraqi Ministry of Oil confirmed that the procedures for restarting the export of oil produced in the KRG through the Port of Ceyhan have been finalized. The Ministry also requested that KRG officials transfer the oil produced from the operated fields to the Iraqi Oil Marketing Company (SOMO) for export through the Iraq-Turkiye pipeline and the Port of Ceyhan.

Iraqi Oil Minister Hayyan Abdulgani had previously stated on February 17 that oil exports from Iraq to Turkiye, which had been halted on March 25, 2023, would resume within a week. The Iraqi Parliament had approved amendments to the budget law, setting the cost of extracting and transporting each barrel of oil from the KRG at $16.

Why Did Oil Flow Stop?

The oil flow from Iraq to the Port of Ceyhan was halted on March 25, 2023, following the decision of the Paris-based International Court of Arbitration on oil exports between Turkiye and Iraq. The halt in oil exports to Turkiye is estimated to have caused economic losses exceeding $23 billion for Iraq.