Iraq's oil ministry declared on Saturday that the procedures had been completed to allow the resumption of oil exports from the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) to Türkiye via the Ceyhan port.
"The Ministry of Oil confirmed that the procedures for resuming the export of oil produced in the Kurdistan Region from the Ceyhan port have been completed, within the framework of the production ceiling and budget law determined by Iraq's OPEC and the mechanisms foreseen in its annex," the ministry said in a statement.
It urged its Kurdish region's authorities to transfer crude oil extracted from the region's oil fields to the State Organization for Marketing of Oil (SOMO), facilitating its exports via the Iraq-Türkiye pipeline.
The exports from the pipeline had been halted for nearly two years after the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) sided with Iraq in an arbitration case amid a long-standing dispute over the export of oil by Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish regional government in the northern part of the country.
Iraq's oil minister said earlier on Monday that oil exports from its Kurdistan region will resume next week, resolving a long dispute that has disrupted crude flows as ties between Baghdad and Irbil improve.
Türkiye halted the oil flows in March 2023 following an arbitration ruling by the ICC. The ICC ordered Ankara to pay Baghdad damages of $1.5 billion over what it said were unauthorized exports by the KRG between 2014 and 2018.
Türkiye, on the other hand, said the body had recognized most of Ankara's demands. In October 2023, it said it was ready for operations and that it was up to Iraq to resume flows.
Earlier during the week, a top official said that Türkiye has "not yet" received any information from Iraq on the resumption of oil flows from the KRG.
The federal and regional governments in Iraq have been negotiating ever since the halt over the production and transport costs payable to the region and its commercial partners.
The federal government of Iraq and the KRG held technical talks following the oil minister's statements earlier this week to iron out details necessary for the resumption of exports, such as a payment mechanism acceptable to oil companies.
The Iraqi Oil Minister Hayan Abul-Ghani's announcement came after the Iraqi Parliament approved on Feb. 2 a budget amendment that set a rate of $16 per barrel for oil transport and production costs in its Kurdistan region.
The amendment also requires the KRG to transfer its oil output to the state-run State Oil Marketing Organization.
The oil ministry, in its Saturday statement, asked the KRG to start delivering crude to SOMO in order for exports to resume.
