BAGHDAD: Iraq will restart the export of oil from its Kurdish region to Turkiye after an interruption of more than two years, following what Prime Minister Shia Al-Sudani called a historic agreement between Baghdad and the Kurdish regional government.
Under the agreement, Iraq’s state oil marketer SOMO will export the crude from Kurdish oil fields through a pipeline to Turkiye. The Kurdistan Regional Government said on X that oil exports will resume within 48 hours after the tripartite agreement between Iraq’s oil ministry, the KRG ministry of natural resources and producing companies.
Flows through the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline had been shut since March 2023 after the International Chamber of Commerce ordered Turkiye to pay Iraq $1.5 billion in damages for unauthorized exports by the Kurdish regional authorities.
The Iraqi oil ministry said in a statement it had reached an agreement to deliver all crude from Kurdistan fields, except volumes for local use, to SOMO for export via the pipeline to Ceyhan. The ministry did not specify when flows would restart. Eight oil companies operating in Iraqi Kurdistan, representing over 90 percent of production, reached agreements in principle on Wednesday with Iraq’s federal and regional governments to resume exports.
Before the exports were suspended, Iraq was shipping about 230,000 barrels per day through the pipeline.
Turkiye is appealing the order to compensate Iraq, which led to the pipeline being shut, but says it is ready to restart the pipeline.
Iraqi PM confirms agreement with Kurdish region to resume oil exports
https://arab.news/9bup3
Iraqi PM confirms agreement with Kurdish region to resume oil exports
- Iraq’s state oil marketer SOMO will export the crude from Kurdish oil fields through a pipeline to Turkiye
- The Kurdistan Regional Government said on X that oil exports will resume within 48 hours
Israel issues evacuation warning for village in southern Lebanon ahead of strike
- A military spokesperson said the Israeli military would attack the site in the village of Yanouh
- It would be the second such attack within days
CAIRO: Israel issued an evacuation warning for a village in southern Lebanon on Saturday ahead of what it said was a planned strike against infrastructure of the Hezbollah militant group.
A military spokesperson said the Israeli military would attack the site in the village of Yanouh in southern Lebanon. It would be the second such attack within days, after Israel hit what it described as Hezbollah infrastructure in several areas in southern Lebanon on Tuesday.
Israel and Lebanon have both sent civilian envoys to a military committee monitoring their ceasefire, a step toward meeting a months-old US demand that they broaden talks in line with President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace agenda.
Israel and Lebanon agreed to a US-brokered ceasefire in 2024, ending more than a year of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah that had culminated in Israeli strikes that severely weakened the Iran-backed militant group. Since then, the sides have traded accusations over violations.
