2025-09-21T10:44:22+00:00

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Shafaq News – Kirkuk

Baghdad and Ankara have agreed to restart oil exports
from the Kurdistan Region after a two-year freeze, Deputy Parliament Speaker
Shakhwan Abdullah confirmed Sunday.

Speaking to reporters, Abdullah stated that Iraq’s
State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) reached a deal with Turkish companies
to resume flows, while the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) finalized a
parallel revenue-sharing agreement with Baghdad covering oil and non-oil
income.

He urged the Iraqi government to fulfill its “legal
and moral obligations,” including the immediate release of overdue Kurdish
public sector salaries for July and August.

Read more: Kurdistan’s salaries: A lingering injustice
beyond numbers

KDP lawmaker Mahma Khalil told Shafaq News last week
that a Kurdish delegation is preparing to visit
Baghdad to complete technical arrangements for exports via the Ceyhan pipeline.

Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani has
consistently maintained that Erbil does not oppose
restarting exports. While SOMO Director Ali Nizar noted the final decision lies
with producing companies, he confirmed SOMO’s readiness to market Kurdish oil
once negotiations conclude.

Read
more: SOMO: Kurdistan oil exports await producers green light

The prolonged shutdown has deepened the KRG’s
financial crisis. Since May 2025, Baghdad has suspended salary transfers,
leaving thousands of public workers unpaid. The KRG Finance Ministry recently
submitted the August payroll to Baghdad for funding. In late August, the
federal cabinet approved June salaries on the condition that Erbil transfers
120 billion dinars (about $92 million) in non-oil revenues. Economists estimate
the export halt has cost Iraq roughly $11.16 million per day.

Read more: Kurdistan’s $110B gamble: A new front in the
Baghdad-Erbil oil war