Economy

APIKUR urges resolution amid economic losses, Erdogan Visit to Iraq, KRG

A source in the Federal Oil Ministry told Iraqi media that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has officially asked the Iraqi Oil Minister Hayyan Abdul Ghani to allow the export of oil from the Kurdistan Region through the Turkish port.

Kurdistan 24 2024/04/23 13:37

The Association of the Petroleum Industry in Kurdistan (APIKUR). (Photo: Kurdistan 24)

Kurdistan Hayyan Abdul Ghani APIKUR ITP Turkey-Iraq relations Turkey-KRG

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - APIKUR highlights the visit of the Turkish President to Iraq and the Kurdistan Region in order to resume oil exports from the Kurdistan Region through the Iraq-Turkey oil pipeline.

The Association of the Petroleum Industry in Kurdistan (APIKUR) said in a statement on Tuesday that it hopes Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit to Iraq will be a step towards finding an appropriate solution between the Turkish government and Iraq, allowing the Kurdistan Regional Government and international oil companies to resume oil exports through the Iraq-Turkey oil pipeline.

Last week, Iraqi, Turkish, Kurdish, and the US leaders discussed the importance of resuming oil exports through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline.

APIKUR said its member companies are ready to resume oil exports under current conditions in the interests of the Iraqi people and their partners.

Meanwhile, a source in the Federal Oil Ministry told Iraqi media that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has officially asked the Iraqi Oil Minister Hayyan Abdul Ghani to allow the export of oil from the Kurdistan Region through the Turkish port.

According to the same source, OPEC has asked the Iraqi oil minister to permit the Kurdistan Regional Government to export 200,000 barrels of oil per day through the Turkish port.

What was the Iraqi oil minister's response to OPEC's request? The source said Hayyan Abdul Ghani has sent the request to Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and is awaiting his response.

The Iraq-Turkey oil pipeline has been suspended since March 25, 2023. The pipeline has the capacity to export 1.4 million barrels of oil per day. However, it has not exported that much oil so far, and what was exported before the suspension was 450,000 barrels per day.

The Turkish Energy Ministry has repeatedly said the pipeline has no problems and has been ready since October 4, 2023. Although Turkey has agreed to resume oil exports and the pipeline is ready, the Iraqi government is not ready to resume oil exports through the pipeline. After more than a year of oil exports, Iraq, the Kurdistan Region, and international oil companies have suffered huge losses.

Iraq has lost more than $14.5 billion in revenue after nearly 14 months of suspension of oil exports through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline. Iraq will be fined $800,000 a day for failing to meet the terms of the agreement. More than $400 million of APIKUR member investments have been frozen. Annual revenues of oil companies have fallen by 60 percent. Hundreds of people have become unemployed. Oil prices rose on Wednesday as exports of 450,000 barrels per day were suspended. Despite all this, energy experts say the suspension of oil exports has damaged Iraq's reputation and reduced investment and trade demand in the country.