Ministry of Natural Resources: KRG and Iraqi Oil Ministry Reach Agreement on Oil Export Mechanism
After 29 months and $50B losses, the KRG's Ministry of Natural Resources & Iraq's Federal Oil Ministry have agreed to resume oil exports. The deal allocates 50,000 barrels per day for local use. Final implementation now depends on crucial negotiations between Federal & Turkey to reopen the pipeline
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – The Kurdistan Region’s Ministry of Natural Resources announced on Wednesday that it has reached an agreement with Iraq’s Ministry of Oil on a mechanism for exporting the Region’s crude oil.
In a statement issued on Aug. 13, 2025, the ministry confirmed that the agreement was finalized between delegations from both sides, consisting of 23 representatives—17 of whom were members of the Iraqi Oil Ministry’s delegation.
According to the statement, negotiations began on July 17 and included visits to all oil fields across the Kurdistan Region. After assessing technical challenges and engaging in extensive discussions, both parties reached an understanding on Aug. 11 regarding an export mechanism, which will be based on the daily output levels of the oil fields.
The ministry specified that under the arrangement, 50,000 barrels of oil will be allocated to meet the Kurdistan Region’s domestic needs, while the remaining production will be delivered to Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) for export.
The statement further noted that the resumption of oil exports from the Kurdistan Region will require the Iraqi federal government to hold discussions with Turkey to ensure the process is implemented.
This new agreement comes after the suspension of Kurdistan Region oil exports in March 2023, following an arbitration ruling in favor of Iraq against Turkey. As a result, exports via Turkey’s Ceyhan port were halted—a decision that, according to Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) officials, has inflicted over $50 billion in losses on both Iraq’s and the Region’s economies. Officials have repeatedly stressed that no party benefited from the prolonged shutdown.
