ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday welcomed the tripartite agreement to resume the Kurdistan Region’s oil exports, stating that the US-facilitated deal will bring about “tangible benefits” for both the US and Iraq.

“We welcome the announcement that the Government of Iraq has reached agreement with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and international [oil] companies to reopen the [Iraq-Turkey] pipeline, a deal facilitated by the United States that will bring tangible benefits for both Americans and Iraqis,” Rubio said in a statement.

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

Rubio commended “the decisive efforts of Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shiaa al-Sudani and senior officials of the Government of Iraq, as well as KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani and senior KRG officials,” to reach this milestone.

The US top diplomat asserted that this step will develop economic ties between the two countries, encourage US investment in Iraq, as well as “enhance regional energy security and reinforce Iraq’s sovereignty.”

The export of the Kurdistan Region’s oil to international markets through Turkey’s Ceyhan pipeline is set to restart at 6 am (Erbil time) on Saturday, September 27, according to a statement released by KRG Cabinet Secretary Amanj Raheem on Thursday.

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) party 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 Erbil to start selling oil independently of Baghdad in 2014.