Iraq’s Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) said Tuesday that it has reached an understanding with Baghdad to resume oil exports through the region to Turkiye’s port of Ceyhan.
Axar.az informs, citing Anadolu Agency, in a statement on the US social media company X’s platform, KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said the region decided to allow oil to flow again through its pipeline “as soon as possible,” citing “the extraordinary circumstances facing the country and the responsibility we all share to get through this difficult chapter.”
Barzani said discussions with the federal government in Baghdad will continue “with urgency to lift the restrictions on imports and trade” into the Kurdish region and to secure guarantees for oil and gas companies so they can safely resume production.
He also thanked the US for its role and support in facilitating the process.
Iraq’s Oil Minister Hayan Abdel Ghani said crude exports through Turkiye’s Ceyhan port will resume Wednesday at 10 a.m., according to the Iraqi News Agency.
The development comes as the Strait of Hormuz has been at the center of global energy concerns since Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced its closure to most vessels in retaliation for US-Israeli attacks that began on Feb. 28.
Before the conflict, around 20 million barrels of oil passed through the strait daily. Its disruption has pushed oil prices higher.