SULAIMANI, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – US National Security Advisor Michael Waltz on Tuesday received Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, discussing a wide array of topics, including the resumption of oil exports from Kurdistan.

The meeting between the two top officials took place at the White House in the presence of Eric Trager, Special Representative for the Middle East and North Africa, and Matt Vilansky, Director of the Iraq and Syria Office.

In addition to the "issue of oil exports from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq," the pair also discussed regional security and the ongoing negotiations between the US and Iran, according to a statement by the Iraqi foreign ministry.

They exchanged views on the "outstanding issues between oil companies on the one hand, and the regional and federal governments on the other," the statement detailed.

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 independently of Baghdad. The halt has cost Iraq and the Region well over 20 billion US dollars in revenue to date.

Baghdad and Erbil announced in late February that they reached an agreement to resume the Kurdistan 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.

In a statement in late March, the Association of the Petroleum Industry of Kurdistan (APIKUR) said that international oil companies (IOCs), along with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), have been negotiating “in good faith” with the Iraqi government to enable the resumption of the Region’s oil exports but noted that the actions of the federal oil ministry have hindered the process.

The cost was previously valued at $6 per barrel, which the IOCs repeatedly criticized as being significantly lower than their expenses. According to the amendments, the IOCs would now be paid $16 per barrel in the first phase, before an independent technical consultant team is assigned to assess the extraction cost.

APIKUR has repeatedly stated that the terms of their existing contracts and the economic models within them must be respected.

The Iraqi foreign minister extended an official invitation to Waltz to visit Iraq toward the end of their meetings to witness "the positive developments the country is witnessing on the security, political, and economic levels."