Shafaq News / The Iraqi Ministry of Oil announced on Saturday the completion of the procedures for resuming the export of oil produced in the Kurdistan Region, calling on the region’s authorities to hand over the quantities produced from the operating fields to the oil marketing company.
The ministry confirmed in a statement received by Shafaq News Agency, “Completing the procedures for resuming the export of oil produced in the Kurdistan Region through the port of Cihan in accordance with the mechanisms outlined in the budget law and its amendment and within the production ceiling set for Iraq in OPEC.”
The Ministry of Oil demanded from the regional authorities to “hand over the quantities produced from the operating fields to the oil marketing company to proceed with export through the Iraqi-Turkish pipeline and the port of Ceyhan under the contracts signed with the candidate companies.”
Earlier in the day, Iraq’s Prime Minister’s Foreign Affairs Adviser, Farhad Aladddin, denied media reports claiming that the United States threatened to impose sanctions on Iraq if oil exports from the Kurdistan Region did not resume.
Reuters revealed on Friday the details of US pressure exerted by the administration of President Donald Trump on the Iraqi government in order to speed up the resumption of the export of Kurdistan Region oil through the Turkish Ceyhan line, or face economic sanctions as is the case with Iran.
The agency quoted eight sources in Baghdad, Washington and Erbil, who have direct knowledge of the issue, as saying that “ increasing pressure from the new US administration was a major driver behind the Iraqi oil minister’s announcement last Monday that exports from the region will resume next week.”