ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Thursday labeled the tripartite agreement to resume Kurdish oil exports as a “historic day,” saying the deal removes “a major obstacle” toward ensuring the financial entitlements of the people of the Region.

“Today’s agreement between the Kurdistan Region and oil companies with the Federal Ministry of Oil and SOMO [Iraq’s State Organization for Marketing of Oil] is the result of tireless efforts and months of negotiation by teams on all sides. With this step, oil from Kurdistan Region’s fields will again enter the global market,” the Kurdish premier wrote on X.

The Iraqi oil ministry on Thursday announced that an agreement has been reached whereby the Kurdistan Region will deliver “all crude oil” produced from its fields to SOMO, apart from the quantities allocated for domestic use, which will later be exported through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline.

Barzani commended all parties, “especially the resilient people of Kurdistan, for overcoming a major obstacle to securing their legitimate financial rights on this historic day.”

He affirmed Erbil’s determination to “implement all constitutional rights” of the Kurdistan Region with the resumption of the oil exportation process.

In addition to the dispute over oil exports, the Iraqi federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) have been at loggerheads over the Region’s financial entitlements for years.

In May, the Iraqi finance ministry informed Erbil that the federal government will suspend funding the Region’s civil servant salaries for the remainder of the year. The two sides have been at the negotiating table since, resulting in multiple agreements to disburse the Region’s salaries for the months of May and June, with July and August salaries yet to be funded by Baghdad.

Earlier on Thursday, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani hailed the “historic agreement,” labeling it as “an achievement 18 years in the making.”

Following the announcement of the agreement, the Kurdistan Region's natural resources ministry said in a statement that oil exports are set to resume within the next 48 hours.

The Iraqi oil ministry noted that the agreement also establishes “clear technical and regulatory mechanisms to ensure smooth export flows and transparency in oil revenues.”

The Kurdistan Region’s oil exports through Turkey’s Ceyhan pipeline have been halted since March 2023. Erbil and Baghdad have since announced several agreements to resume exports, but the process had been blocked due to 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.

International oil companies (IOCs) parties to the tripartite agreement said on Wednesday that “the agreed framework maintains the sanctity of existing contracts and provides surety of payment to IOCs.”

The halt in Kurdish oil exports came after Ankara lost a case against Baghdad in a Paris-based arbitration court, in which Iraq accused Turkey of breaching a 1973 agreement by allowing the Erbil to start selling oil independently of Baghdad in 2014.