The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is in talks with Iran over building a pipeline to export as much as 250,000 barrels a day (b/d) of Kurdish crude.

The KRG’s Deputy Minister of Natural Resources Taha Zangana expects a Kurdish delegation to visit Tehran after Ramadan to finalise the deal.

“We [the KRG and Iran] have an understanding on how to do this [exporting KRG oil and gas to Iran]. The technical aspects have been talked about and are clear to both sides. What remains is the political and commercial side of it,” Zangana told the Al-Jazeera news channel.

The KRG currently exports about 500,000 b/d of crude to Turkey via a pipeline to the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan, but is now looking to diversify its export routes.

However, disagreements remain on price and volumes. The deal would also require support from Iraq’s federal government, which has attempted to block independent exports of crude by the KRG.