Kurdish Oil Exports Through Turkey Resume At End Of Sep

 

September 27 Kurdish oil reached Turkey for the first time since 2023. This was the fulfillment of months of negotiations between Baghdad, Irbil and oil companies operating in Kurdistan. The agreement also includes a budget deal between the central and regional governments and will help both with their revenues.

 

Under the new deal the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) will export 230,000 barrels a day of oil for the State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO). SOMO will be in charge of shipping and costs through the Turkish pipeline. The oil companies in the KRG will be paid in oil at the rate of $16 per barrel. Eventually there will be an assessment by a third party to determine how much the businesses will be compensated. The energy firms are also to discuss the debts owed them by the KRG within 30 days. Overall, the agreement is to last until the end of the year.

 

The 2025 budget is also included. Because of the dispute over Kurdish oil exports Baghdad has been paying Irbil off and on for years now. In 2025, KRG public workers have only been paid up to June. Now the central government is supposed to pay for the remaining months of the year. The budget dispute between the central and regional governments has debilitated Kurdistan which relied upon monthly payments from Baghdad to cover its vast and expanding civil service. As a result, the KRG has gone into debt and the population has grown restless with demonstrations and immigration out of the country as people look for better opportunities abroad.

 

Baghdad and Irbil have been talking about resuming exports since Turkey shut down its pipeline in March 2023 after it lost an arbitration case to Iraq. Ankara was found in violation of the Iraq-Turkey Pipeline deal by selling Kurdish oil without the central government’s approval. Turkey was also ordered to pay $1.5 billion in damages to Iraq. That has not been resolved but Ankara has agreed to open its pipeline once again.

 

Both sides are set to benefit from the new agreement. For one, the KRG desperately needs to get its oil exports going again so that it can have uninterrupted budget payments. One parliamentarian said he hoped the transfers will help revive the Kurdish economy. Baghdad will also benefit since it needs as much money as it can earn to cover its massive budget. Oil prices have started to drop and Iraq is looking to boost its exports to make up for it.

 

SOURCES

 

Iraq Oil Report, “Kurdistan poised to restart pipeline exports,” 9/23/25

 

Kurdistan 24, “Baghdad Moves Closer to Resuming Kurdistan Oil Exports After 18-Month Halt,” 9/19/25

- “Kurdish Crude Oil Reaches Turkiye on Path to Global Markets,” 9/27/25

 

Rudaw, “Tripartite deal expands Baghdad’s role in Kurdish oil exports,” 9/29/25

 

Tahir, Rawaz, Hussein, Mohammed, Al-Aqily, Ali, Van Heuvelen, Ben, “Iraq preps for northern exports after clinching tripartite oil deal,” Iraq Oil Report, 9/26/25