ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – An Iraqi federal oil ministry delegation will arrive in Erbil on Monday to discuss the Kurdistan Region’s oil exports that will likely resume by March, the Kurdistan Region’s acting Natural Resources Minister told The New Region.

“Today, a delegation from the Iraqi oil ministry will visit Erbil, and meet Kurdish officials tomorrow to discuss the Kurdistan Region’s oil exports” Kamal Mohammed told The New Region on Monday, adding that “the [Kurdistan Region’s] oil exports will most likely resume by March.”

Mohammed added that the legal procedures to allow Kurdistan Region’s oil exports were all complete bar Turkey’s approval and cooperation.

Exports of the Kurdistan Region’s oil through the Turkish Ceyhan pipeline, where part of Kirkuk’s oil was also exported through, were halted in March 2023 after Ankara lost a case against Baghdad in a Paris-based arbitration court. 

The case accused Ankara of breaching a 1973 agreement by allowing the KRG to start selling oil independent of Baghdad.

The Iraqi Parliament passed an amendment to the Federal Budget Law in early February involving the resumption of the Kurdistan Region’s oil production.

The bill-turned-law called for amending section 2C of Article 12 of the Iraqi federal budget, which states that Baghdad will reimburse Erbil for the production and transportation cost of one barrel of oil at the average cost of production and transportation of the federal oil ministry – which is valued at $6.

The international oil companies (IOCs) have repeatedly stated that the value set out in the budget is way lower than their expenses. The amendments set the cost of production and transportation of a barrel of oil at $16.

The amendment to the Federal Budget Law allowing the resumption of the Region’s oil production was ratified by Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid on Sunday. 

The halt in Kurdistan Region’s oil exports has dealt a major blow to the Kurdish and Iraqi economy. According to the Association of the Petroleum Industry of Kurdistan (APIKUR), over 26 billion dollars have been lost in revenue due to the halt as of Monday.