Kurdistan Region will resume oil exports this week, says Iraqi Premier

Regarding the depreciation of the Iraqi dinar (IQD), the Premier reaffirmed that IQD will be reevaluated.

Kurdistan 24 2023/04/19 20:30

Muhammed Shia' Al-Sudani, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Iraq. (Photo: The Media Office of Iraqi Prime Minister)

Iraq Muhammed Shia Al Sudani Oil Exports Erbil-Baghdad deal IDPs Iraqi dinar

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Muhammed Shia' Al-Sudani, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Iraq, on Tuesday held a press conference with media outlets.

With respect to the recent Erbil-Baghdad oil agreement, PM Sudani stated that “some measures must be taken before resuming oil exports from the Kurdistan Region, but “most of it has been completed.”

“Kurdistan Region will resume oil exports this week,” he added.

Concerning Internally displaced persons (IDPs), the Prime Minister confirmed that there is an agreement for the return of IDPs, that all political parties are committed to.

He also noted that they have already begun to return IDPs, as well as refugees.

Regarding the depreciation of the Iraqi dinar (IQD), the Premier reaffirmed that IQD will be reevaluated. PM Sudani explained that the recent dollar volatility was due to the previous cabinet’s failure to comply with its agreements with the United States Treasury Department.

On April 4, PM Barzani visited Baghdad to sign a new interim deal that allowed the Kurdish region to resume its oil export to Turkey’s Ceyhan port. After the Paris-based International Court of Arbitration ruling that favored Iraq in one out of 5 claims, Turkey halted oil exports from the Kurdistan Region.

One week later, PM Barzani and Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ Al-Sudani, in the Iraqi capital, held a joint news conference to announce the new deal.

Per the new deal, the Iraqi state-owned marketing company, SOMO, will market and export 400,000 bpd of Kurdish crude oil at market prices.

Also, Kurdish oil sales revenue will be deposited in a Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) account owned by the KRG and monitored by Baghdad.

The Iraqi government spokesperson, Basim Alawadi, previously announced that the budget proposal estimates oil revenues at 117.3 trillion Iraqi dinars while non-oil revenues will be 17.3 trillion Iraqi dinars in the three-year budget proposal.

The total proposed expenditure amounts to nearly 198 trillion Iraqi dinars, while investment projects are estimated at 47.5 trillion Iraqi dinars.