Iraqi government oil officials for the first time met with representatives of the Association of the Petroleum Industry of Kurdistan (APIKUR) on 8 November 2023 to discuss the resumption of flows from the embattled export pipeline from Iraq to Turkey, according to Reuters.

The meeting on Wednesday, held in Dubai, involved APIKUR, Iraqi ministry representatives, the State Organisation for Marketing of Oil (SOMO), and Iraq's North Oil Company in Dubai, according to a statement shared with Reuters.

Turkey halted flows through Iraq's northern oil export route after an arbitration ruling in March 2023 by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) ordered Ankara to pay Baghdad damages for unauthorised exports between 2014 and 2018.

Turkey's Energy Minister in October 2023 said that the pipeline was prepared for shipments to begin, but two senior Iraqi oil officials said at the time that Iraq has not received official notification from Turkey on whether the pipeline is ready.

APIKUR's members include international oil and gas firms that have a direct or indirect interest in upstream oil or gas contracts in Iraq's Kurdistan region, many of which have had to stop output as a result of the pipeline closure.

During the meeting, both APIKUR and Iraqi government officials emphasised the urgency of resuming full oil production and exports under mutually acceptable commercial terms.

But no agreement has so far emerged, a source familiar with the matter reported.

"This meeting was an initial step...we anticipate future meetings with all stakeholders," said Myles Caggins, an APIKUR spokesperson in a statement to Reuters.

Iraq, OPEC's second-largest oil producer, exports about 85% of its crude via ports in the south. But the northern route via Turkey still accounts for about 0.5% of global oil supply.