Kirkuk oil export to Iran will begin in next two weeks: Iraq’s SOMO

Iraq will begin the export of crude oil from fields in Kirkuk Province to Iran in the next two weeks, the head of the Iraqi state-oil marketer SOMO said on Tuesday.

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – Iraq will begin the export of crude oil from fields in Kirkuk Province to Iran in the next two weeks, the head of the Iraqi state-oil marketer SOMO said on Tuesday.

In an official statement, SOMO head Alaa al-Yasiri said Iraq would begin exporting oil from fields north of Kirkuk to Iran “in one to two weeks, starting at a daily average rate of 30,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd).”

He also said oil exports from northern Kirkuk fields through Turkey could begin “at any moment” as discussions with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) which controls the Ceyhan pipeline are ongoing.

Oil tankers line up at a refinery in Erbil, Kurdistan Region. (Photo: Anadolu Agency)
Oil tankers line up at a refinery in Erbil, Kurdistan Region. (Photo: Anadolu Agency)

Ever since Iraq and Iran agreed on the oil deal last December, the two sides have faced many difficulties in moving forward with the agreement.

In January, Iraqi Oil Minister Jabar al-Luaibi said the export of oil from Kirkuk to Iran would begin before the end of the month. But, that never happened.

In early February, at a donor’s conference for the reconstruction of Iraq held in Kuwait, the acting governor of Kirkuk announced Baghdad would begin delivering oil from Kirkuk to Iran before the beginning of March. That did not happen either.

The deal allows Iraq to resume the production and sale of crude from Kirkuk where between 30,000 to 60,000 bpd will be delivered by tanker trucks.

The agreement was signed after the military takeover of the disputed oil-rich province by Iraqi forces and the Iranian-backed Hashd al-Shaabi militias in response to the Kurdistan Region’s Sep. 25 independence referendum.

Kurdish forces took control of the province in 2014 following the emergence of the Islamic State and the collapse of the Iraqi army.

Kirkuk is one of the largest oilfields in the Middle East, estimated to contain around nine billion barrels of recoverable oil.