Iraq resumes Kurdistan Region oil exports via Ceyhan after two-year halt

BAGHDAD — Oil Minister Hayan Abdul Ghani said Saturday that Iraq has received more than one million barrels of crude from the Kurdistan Region, confirming that the first tanker carrying the region’s oil has been loaded at Turkey’s Ceyhan port.

“Several days ago, the process of pumping oil from the Kurdistan Region toward the Ceyhan port through the Iraq–Turkey pipeline resumed after a halt that lasted more than two years,” Abdul Ghani told the Iraqi News Agency. He added that “for the first time, the federal government is receiving oil produced in the region and handling the process of exporting it outside Iraq.”

He said “the quantities received so far have reached more than one million barrels,” noting that “the first tanker has docked at the Ceyhan port with a load of 650,000 barrels per day.” Abdul Ghani said the loading process would be completed soon and the vessel would “head to its contracted destination.”

He described the resumption as “a major achievement for the federal government and the region for succeeding in resuming the export of the region’s oil and contributing to the state budget with the necessary funds.”

Oil exports from the Kurdistan Region restarted last Saturday following a suspension of the Iraq–Turkey pipeline, halted in March 2023 due to an arbitration ruling in Paris. The restart came after what officials called a “historic agreement” on Sept. 25 between Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani’s government and the Kurdistan Regional Government, transferring export operations to Iraq’s state oil marketer SOMO.

A brief disruption on Oct. 3 caused by technical issues at Turkey’s Ceyhan terminal temporarily paused exports, but the Kurdistan Regional Government’s Ministry of Natural Resources said the issue had been resolved and flows had resumed.