ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio reaffirmed the need for a swift resumption of the Kurdistan Region’s oil exports through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline, in a phone call that reaffirmed a strong relationship between Erbil and Washington.

“In a telephone call, both sides agreed on the importance of strengthening the friendship and alliance between the Kurdistan Region and the United States,” read a statement from the premier’s office.

The “need and importance of resuming” the Kurdistan Region’s oil exports through Turkey’s Ceyhan pipeline was one of the other topics both sides were in agreement on, the statement added.

Exports of the Kurdistan Region’s oil through the Turkish Ceyhan pipeline, where part of Kirkuk’s oil was also exported, 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 Erbil to start selling oil independent of Baghdad.

After the nearly two-year halt, Baghdad and Erbil eventually announced late February that they reached an agreement to resume the Region’s oil exports to the international market, but the process has yet to restart with international oil producers demanding payment surety, transparent implementation of Iraq’s budget law stipulations, and resolution of payments that are in arrears before resuming the work.

The halt in exports has dealt a major blow to Iraq and the Kurdistan Region's economy, with over $28 billion in lost revenue to date. 

Secretary Rubio “expressed his country's gratitude to the Kurdistan Region for being a safe haven for ethnic and religious communities and for playing an important role in maintaining stability and security in the region,” the Friday statement read.

Rubio has long been seen as a friend to the Kurds, and to the Kurdish prime minister as well.

In 2016, back when he was a senator for Florida, Rubio came to the Kurdistan Region and met with Barzani, who was at the time the Security Council Advisor.

Back in December 2024, Prime Minister Barzani congratulated Rubio in a phone call for being named as then President-elect Donald Trump’s candidate to lead the state department.

Prime Minister Barzani also shares a strong relationship with the new US cabinet in general.

Back in March, he spoke with US National Security Advisor Michael Waltz and they “discussed ways to advance the relationship between the Kurdistan Region and Iraq with the United States.”

They also spoke in December when Waltz was designated as National Security Advisor by Trump.