The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has expressed readiness to hand over oil to SOMO, provided that by the end of this week, a tripartite agreement (between the Federal Ministry of Oil + the KRG Ministry of Natural Resources + international oil companies) is finalized.

The Kurdistan Regional Council of Ministers convened today and issued a decision regarding the resumption of oil exports, which have been halted since March 25, 2023, after Iraq filed an arbitration case against Turkey at the Paris-based International Court of Arbitration, resulting in the suspension of crude exports to Turkey’s Ceyhan port.

During the meeting, Prime Minister Masrour Barzani stated that the Kurdistan Regional Government has fully carried out all its constitutional duties and obligations, and has shown maximum flexibility to remove all technical barriers that have been cited as reasons for withholding the region’s budget and salaries.

The Prime Minister said: “These issues must no longer be used as an obstacle against the payment of the salaries of Kurdistan Region’s civil servants. Salaries are a legal and natural right of the people and must be transferred by the Federal Government without delay.”

In a report presented during the meeting, Amanj Rahim, Secretary of the Council of Ministers, detailed the latest steps taken jointly by both the Federal and Regional Governments regarding the resumption of oil exports. He explained that the Iraqi Council of Ministers had approved these measures in its meeting yesterday, following the KRG’s prior approval and submission of the same proposals to Baghdad last week.

According to the KRG statement: “In line with this new understanding, and in addition to the previous decisions of both councils of ministers requiring all oil produced in the Kurdistan Region to be handed over to SOMO (except for oil allocated for domestic consumption), the current stage has reached the drafting of a tripartite agreement for the resumption of exports. Negotiations have made significant progress and, therefore, it is expected that the agreement will be finalized by the end of this week.”

The KRG Council of Ministers stressed that until the tripartite agreement (between the Federal Ministry of Oil, the KRG Ministry of Natural Resources, and the international oil companies operating in the Kurdistan Region) is signed, the Kurdistan Region will continue to hand over its share of oil to the Federal Ministry of Oil. For this purpose, the Council assigned the Minister of Natural Resources and the negotiation team to take the necessary steps, while urging the Federal Government to, in turn, fulfill its obligation to pay salaries without further delay.

In the Iraqi Council of Ministers’ meeting yesterday, it was decided that the proposal for signing the tripartite agreement should be sent to the Ministry of Oil, and that the Ministry must submit its response to the Council within 48 hours after the meeting’s conclusion.