Baghdad and KRG agree to restart oil exports from Kirkuk

28 February 2018
There have been no exports from Kirkuk’s biggest fields since October last year

Baghdad has agreed with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to restart oil exports from Kirkuk using the Kurdish-controlled pipeline to the Turkish port of Ceyhan.

“It was agreed with the Kurdish side to start exporting oil from Kirkuk,” said Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Tuesday.

Al-Abadi did not give a precise date for when the exports from Kirkuk would resume.

Federal Iraq used its military to seize control of Kirkuk and its oil fields from the KRG in October last year.

The military clashes between the Kurdish armed forces and the Iraqi military, as well as the Kurdish independence referendum that preceded them, severely damaged relations between Erbil and Baghdad.

There have been no exports from Kirkuk’s biggest oil fields since the clashes as the KRG would not allow Baghdad to use the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline under its control.

To make up for lost exports in the north, the Iraqi government increased exports from the south.

Iraq exported 108.19 million barrels of oil, or 3.49 million barrels a day (b/d), from its southern ports in January 2018.

This is slightly down from 3.53 million b/d in December 2017, when exports from the south hit a new record.

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