Iran, Iraq looking to build pipeline, export Kirkuk oil

KIRKUK, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – Iraq is inching closer to securing the construction of a pipeline that would export crude oil from the disputed province of Kirkuk via Iran.

According to Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh, agreements were reached following meetings with his Iraqi counterpart Jabar al-Luaibi, notably regarding how to proceed with the ambitious project.

The state-owned Iranian news agency IRNA also reported the ministers were to discuss transferring oil from Kirkuk to Iranian refineries for processing and return the byproduct to Iraq, with the expectation of signing an agreement by next year, according to the official news site of the Iranian oil ministry.

Separately, Zanganeh said Iran would begin exporting gas to the southern Iraqi city of Basra in the coming months despite recent problems in payments for current gas exports to Iraq via banks, forcing Iran to rely on cash payments.

Earlier in February, Iraq and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding to study the construction of the Kirkuk pipeline.

The two ministers agreed to hire an international company to carry out the study on the feasibility of the venture.

Kirkuk, however, has been under the administration of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) since 2014, after Iraqi forces failed to protect the area from the Islamic State (IS) and were pushed out.

Peshmerga forces drove the extremist group out and have since been protecting the area from the threat of IS.

Oil-rich Kirkuk is claimed by both Baghdad and Erbil. Two of its oil fields are under the control of the KRG, and three are run by Iraq’s North Oil Company (NOC).

The KRG exports 150,000 barrels of oil per day from Bai Hassan and Havana oilfields. The Iraqi government produces a similar number.

In 2016, the two governments agreed the oil under Baghdad’s control in Kirkuk would be exported through the Kurdistan Region and half the revenue would go to the Region.

Baghdad had not paid Kirkuk Province its share of oil sold from its fields since 2013. 

Kirkuk will also take part in the Region’s upcoming referendum on independence, scheduled for Sep. 25, and decide whether to remain a part of Iraq or join an independent Kurdish state. 

On Sunday, the Kurdistan Referendum’s High Council announced President of the Kurdistan Region Masoud Barzani and Vice-President Kosrat Rasul would form a delegation to negotiate the referendum’s process with Iraqi officials in Baghdad “before Aug. 10.”

Kurdish parties have also previously called on the Iraqi government to hold elections in Kirkuk as part of an upcoming nation-wide vote.

The last time a provincial election was held in Kirkuk was in 2005. 

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany