Kurdish regional gov’t to raise oil exports to Turkey

Dilshad Shaban, the deputy head of the oil and gas committee in the KRG parliament, said they will continue raising the oil delivery due to the agreement between Arbil and Baghdad.

“The Kurdish government will stick to the agreement,” he said.

The KRG promised 550,000 barrels per day, but due to the conflict in the region, oil exports from the Kurdish region have been lower than the determined targets, said Shaban.

“The additional 75,000 barrels will be counted for the loss in promised targets,” he added.

Shaban maintains the main reasons for the failure in reaching oil export targets has been due to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’s (ISIL) control of certain oil wells in Kirkuk and certain breakdowns in oil pipelines.

According to an agreement reached between Arbil and Baghdad, the Kurdish government was to export 250,000 barrels of oil per day and the Kirkuk province 300,000 barrels per day under the supervision of the Iraqi federal government’s oil marketing company, SOMO.

In return, Baghdad was to provide 17 percent of the national budget.