KRG oil exports remain halted

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – The Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Minister of Natural Resources (MNR) released a monthly crude oil export and revenue report for February.

In a statement released on the MNR website on Monday, the report stated that “the KRG exported 10,151,944 barrels of crude oil (an average of 350,067 barrels per day (bpd)) in the month of February through the Kurdistan pipeline network to the port of Ceyhan in Turkey.”

In January, the KRG exported over 18 million barrels of crude oil through the Kurdistan Region-Turkey pipeline network.

During the month of February, there were 13 days of downtime for the export pipeline where, according to the MNR statement, “the downtime is continuing at the date of this report.”

“The buyers of the KRG crude oil lifted 13 cargoes, totaling 11,890,345 barrels,” the statement added.

The MNR report stated that the KRG received $303,943,433 in February from its crude oil export, of which $70,933,433 was allocated to the producers. The sales revenue received by the KRG during the month included $100 million from a new prepayment commitment.

Previously, Sherko Jawdat, head of the Industry, Energy and Natural Resources Committee in the Kurdistan Region Parliament told Kurdistan24 that, "The MNR is planning to increase oil exports as much as the region's pipeline network can transport, and the rest will be transported by tankers."

Low oil prices have exacerbated the financial situation in the Kurdistan Region, forcing the government to be behind three to four months payment for civil servants.

In order for the KRG to overcome the financial crisis, "the government has to make tough decisions especially with organizing and making reform in the sectors of oil, finance, and investment, and eliminate corruption," Jawdat added.

The denying of the KRG’s budget by the Iraqi Federal Government and the decline in international oil prices plunged the KRG into financial crisis. Additionally, the war against the Islamic State (IS) along with hosting nearly two million refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from the rest of Iraq has also caused tremendous financial and economic strain.

Reporting by Baxtiyar Goran
Editing by Karzan Sulaivany and Ava Homa