Reuters quoted informed sources on Saturday that the Iraqi federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government are close to concluding an agreement aimed at resuming oil exports from the north.
Turkey stopped the flow of oil through the pipeline from the fields of Kirkuk in the Kurdistan region to the port of Ceyhan on March 25, after losing a lawsuit filed by Baghdad before the arbitration panel of the International Chamber of Commerce.
In the facts of the lawsuit, Iraq accused Turkey of violating the 1973 pipeline agreement by allowing the Kurdistan Regional Government to export oil without Baghdad's consent between 2014 and 2018.
The 450,0 barrels per day that used to flow through the pipeline to Turkey's Ceyhan port accounted for only about 5.80 percent of global oil supply, but the halt that forced oil companies operating in the region to halt production or move it to quick-filling storage tanks last week helped push oil prices to nearly $<> a barrel.
Preliminary agreement
A preliminary agreement between the two sides stipulates that oil from northern Iraq will be jointly exported by the state-owned Oil Marketing Company (SOMO) and the KRG's Ministry of Natural Resources, according to the two sources, a senior Iraqi oil sector official and a KRG official.
The KRG official said the revenues would be deposited in an account run by the Ministry of Natural Resources and overseen by Baghdad.
The two sources said that the initial agreement was referred to Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani for final ratification, and the source of the Kurdistan Government expected the agreement to be ratified next Monday.
Baghdad and the KRG agreed to continue meetings after the resumption of oil exports to find solutions to other outstanding problems.
The senior Iraqi oil official said that "these problems include contracts of foreign companies operating in Kurdistan and Kurdish debt."
According to trade sources, the Kurdistan region, after suspending its oil exports, decided to stop paying $ 6 billion through oil shipments owed to it to a number of energy companies, including Vitol and Petraco.