Iraq’s parliament to question oil ministers from Baghdad and Erbil over pipeline dispute

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s parliament will host federal and Kurdistan Region oil officials Tuesday evening to discuss resuming crude exports through the northern pipeline to Turkey’s Ceyhan port, as a public dispute between Baghdad and Erbil over the stalled shipments escalates.

Federal Oil Minister Hayan Abdul Ghani, the KRG’s minister of natural resources, senior Oil Ministry deputies and the director general of SOMO are all expected to attend the 9 p.m. session.

The meeting follows a sharp exchange of statements Sunday in which Baghdad and Erbil offered conflicting accounts of why exports remain halted. Iraq’s Oil Ministry said the KRG had refused to restart shipments despite a federal request to export up to 300,000 barrels per day through the pipeline. The KRG’s Ministry of Natural Resources fired back, accusing Baghdad of distorting the issue and attempting to shift blame onto the Kurdistan Region, pointing to the dollar embargo Baghdad imposed on Kurdistan Region traders and militia attacks on energy infrastructure that it says have brought production to a standstill.

The northern pipeline has become critical to Iraq’s finances after regional conflict involving Iran disrupted tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, cutting off the southern terminals near Basra that normally handle the vast majority of Iraq’s oil exports and around 90 percent of government revenue. The Ceyhan route, which bypasses the Gulf entirely, is one of the few viable alternatives.

Exports through the pipeline have been repeatedly interrupted over the past decade due to Baghdad-Erbil disputes over production control, revenue sharing and the legal framework governing Kurdish crude. Most recently, shipments were halted for more than two years after a 2023 arbitration ruling before resuming in 2025 under a deal that transferred export operations to SOMO — an arrangement now under severe strain.