All Foreign Companies Bound by Kurdistan Oil Export Agreement, Confirms Iraqi Minister

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – In a statement that solidifies the framework of a landmark energy deal, Iraqi Federal Minister of Oil Hayan Abdul-Ghani confirmed on Saturday that the tripartite agreement to resume oil exports from the Kurdistan Region is legally binding on all foreign oil companies that have signed it. The minister's remarks came on the historic day that saw crude oil from the Kurdistan Region flow once again through the Iraq-Türkiye pipeline to the port of Ceyhan, officially ending a crippling and costly suspension of more than two and a half years.

"All companies have signed this agreement," Abdul-Ghani stated, as reported by the official Iraqi News Agency (INA), "therefore it has become binding on all the foreign companies that signed."

The minister detailed the core components of the agreement, which was signed on the 25th of September between the Iraqi Ministry of Oil, the Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) Ministry of Natural Resources, and the international companies operating in the region.

He confirmed that the initial volume of exports would be between 180,000 to 190,000 barrels per day (bpd), with an additional 50,000 bpd set aside for domestic refineries within the Kurdistan Region.

He explained the financial terms, noting that for each barrel produced, "$16 will be paid, in accordance with the first amendment to the budget law." The successful restart, he said, realizes a long-held ambition. "The dream that many had of receiving the region's oil and exporting it through the Ministry of Oil, represented by the Iraqi Marketing Company, will be realized," he declared.

The resumption of exports, which commenced at approximately 6:50 AM on Saturday from the Peshkhabour oil field, was hailed as a "turning point" not only for the Kurdistan Region but for the entire Iraqi economy. Dr. Govand Sherwani, an oil and gas expert, provided a comprehensive analysis to Kurdistan24, highlighting the immense strategic and economic significance of the deal.

He explained that the reopening of the northern export route via Ceyhan is crucial for Iraq's ability to increase its overall export capacity, especially given the technical limitations of the southern ports in Basra.

"The ports of Basra are now beyond their capacity and production and cannot export more than they currently do," Dr. Sherwani stated. "Therefore, the only way to increase oil exports from Iraq's share is the Ceyhan port." He noted that the pipeline has the capacity to transport up to one million barrels per day, which includes oil from both the Kurdistan Region and the northern provinces of Iraq, making it a "strong financial support for the Iraqi economy."

Furthermore, Dr. Sherwani emphasized the deal's strategic importance in providing Iraq with a vital alternative export route, thereby insulating the country's revenues from potential geopolitical instability in the Gulf or the Strait of Hormuz. This, he argued, would also negate the need for Iraq to pursue expensive and less economically viable pipeline projects like the proposed Basra-Haditha-Aqaba line.

The timing of the resumption, precisely at 6:00 AM, was not arbitrary but was chosen for two specific technical reasons, as technology consultant Kewan Hassan explained to Kurdistan24.

The first relates to the standardization of global markets. "The oil market, especially for futures and contracts on exchanges like NYMEX and ICE, has a common time system for all transactions," Hassan said, noting that the 6:00 AM start time, often pegged to New York or London time, ensures uniformity and balance.

The second reason involves the synchronization of the complex electronic and banking systems that underpin modern oil trading. A unified start time guarantees that computer systems and banks can begin executing buy and sell orders simultaneously, reducing complexities and ensuring accuracy in large-scale transactions.

The economic benefits of the deal are expected to be immediate and substantial. The Eco Iraq Observatory, a group specializing in economic analysis, released a statement on Saturday projecting that the resumption will provide Iraq with a daily revenue of more than three million dollars.

The observatory noted that this extra revenue, amounting to approximately $100.8 million per month, will be added to the state treasury and will be instrumental in solving the long-standing issue of delayed salary payments for public sector employees in the Kurdistan Region.

The group also pointed out that the agreement lends "more legitimacy" to the presence of the international companies in the region, a sentiment reflected in the stock market, where the shares of companies like Gulf Keystone Petroleum and Genel Energy rose following the announcement of the deal.

For the Kurdistan Region, the impact is expected to be transformative. Dr. Govand Sherwani told Kurdistan24 that the resolution of the export issue will have a profound positive effect on the local economy and on relations between Erbil and Baghdad.

"The oil industry will grow again and companies will resume work, production will continue, and hundreds of workers and engineers who were unemployed during that period can return to their jobs," he said. Critically, he believes that with the oil file resolved, "no excuse will remain for the Iraqi government to create problems on other issues like salaries and the budget," predicting that the agreement will have a "positive reaction on all other pending files between Baghdad and Erbil."

Minister Abdul-Ghani confirmed that the pumping of crude oil was proceeding smoothly and that there were "clear indicators" of a rise in oil levels in the storage tanks at the Ceyhan port. He expressed confidence that once the required quantities are collected, tankers will be loaded, marking the full return of Kurdistan's oil to the global market under a new, unified, and legally binding framework that promises to usher in a new chapter of stability, cooperation, and shared prosperity for all of Iraq.