Iraq, Kurdistn resume exporting oil from Kirkuk: Sources

Iraq’s state oil company and its semi-autonomous Kurdistan region have reportedly resumed joint oil exports from the Kirkuk oilfield, following a months-long halt in the process due to a dispute between the two sides on revenue-sharing.

Since March, the Kirkuk flows had been halted as Baghdad pushed Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to cut a new revenue-sharing deal. Before that date, the flows were unilaterally handled by the KRG.

An unidentified informed shipping source said that shipments on behalf of the State Organization for Marketing of Oil (SOMO) resumed on Thursday morning.

The development comes as “final details of the revenue-sharing deal are still being worked out, the current flows of Kirkuk are being split 50/50 between SOMO and Kurdistan,” the source added.

The Kirkuk flows usually amount to 150,000 barrels per day (bpd) and are exported via the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan.

Ezat Sabir, head of the Finance Committee in the KRG Council of Ministers, said that he expected the 50/50 split of Kirkuk oil would remain until the year-end.

SS