Lack of formal deals hinders resumption of Kurdistan oil exports: Firms
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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Oil companies operating in the Kurdistan Region emphasized on Tuesday that the absence of a formal agreement with the Iraqi government remains the main obstacle to resuming Kurdish oil exports after nearly two years of halt.
The Iraqi oil ministry had invited the Association of the Petroleum Industry of Kurdistan (APIKUR), which consists of eight oil companies operating in the Kurdistan Region, and the Kurdistan Regional Government's natural resources ministry for a meeting in Baghdad on Tuesday. However, the meeting did not take place as scheduled, and an unannounced meeting was held on Saturday instead.
Myles B. Caggins III, spokesperson for APIKUR, told Rudaw English on Tuesday that they were not too concerned about the postponement of the meeting, adding that there might be a second meeting on Thursday.
'APIKUR welcomes any meeting that involves all stakeholders [and] that will finalize all necessary agreements for oil exports to resume,' he asserted.
Caggins added that the conditions set on Friday for the resumption of Kurdish oil exports remain unchanged.
'APIKUR member companies remain prepared to immediately resume exports as soon as formal agreements are reached to provide surety of payment for past and future exports consistent with our existing contractual legal and commercial terms. There has not yet been any outreach in this regard to APIKUR member companies,' the umbrella group said in a statement on Friday.
The companies also want assurances that payments under Iraq's budget amendment - requiring Baghdad to pay $16 per barrel in production costs to the KRG - will be reliably distributed to the producers.
Caggins told Rudaw on Saturday that the companies seek compensation within their 'commercial terms' of the current contracts, adding that the contracts are backed up by international law and tested by Iraqi courts.
'We must have guarantees that these payments will occur,' he added.
Oil exports from the Kurdistan Region through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline were halted in March 2023 after a Paris-based arbitration court ruled in favor of Baghdad against Ankara, saying the latter had violated a 1973 pipeline agreement by allowing Erbil to begin independent oil exports in 2014.
In February, Sudani stated that Baghdad aimed to open a new chapter with international oil companies in the Kurdistan Region after the Iraqi parliament approved a budget law amendment that raised the compensation paid for oil companies operating in the Kurdistan Region.
Turkey has been ready to receive the Kurdish oil since late 2023 but has yet to receive a confirmation from the Iraqi side.
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