Crude exports from Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region are scheduled to restart on Saturday, the state news agency said on Friday, citing state marketer SOMO, which will transport the oil via pipeline to Turkey’s Ceyhan port.
Three sources familiar with the plans told Reuters that exports were scheduled to restart at 6 a.m. local time (0300 GMT).
Baghdad has come under U.S. pressure to resume the Kurdish oil flows as U.S. President Donald Trump seeks to cut Iranian oil exports to zero under a maximum pressure campaign against Tehran. The reopening of the pipeline also comes as OPEC+ producers boost output to gain market share.
One of the sources said Kurdistan's Ministry for Natural Resources sent a notification to oil companies operating in Kurdistan about the planned startup.
The Kurdistan Regional Government and the Iraqi oil ministry did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment.
TERMS OF AGREEMENT
The preliminary plan agreed on Wednesday calls for the KRG to commit to delivering at least 230,000 bpd to SOMO, while keeping an additional 50,000 bpd for local use, according to Iraqi officials with knowledge of the agreement.
An independent trader will handle sales from the Turkish port of Ceyhan using SOMO's official prices.
For each barrel sold, $16 is to be transferred to an escrow account and distributed proportionally to producers, with the rest of the revenue going to SOMO, the officials said.
Norway's DNO said it has no immediate plans to export through the pipeline but that its local buyers could still ship its crude through it. The company and its joint venture partner Genel Energy have said the issue of Kurdistan's around $1 billion in arrears to producers, of which DNO is owed about $300 million, needs to be addressed.
The eight oil companies and the KRG have agreed to meet within 30 days of exports resuming to work on a mechanism for settling the outstanding debts.
