Iraq To Resume Oil Exports From Kurdistan To Turkey On Saturday - Oil Ministry

DOHA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 12th May, 2023) Iraq will resume oil exports from Iraqi Kurdistan to Turkey on May 13 after the suspension in late March due to the International Court of Arbitration's ruling, the Iraqi Oil Ministry said in a statement on Thursday, obtained by Sputnik.

"Iraqi oil marketing organization SOMO has informed Turkish company BOTAS that it will resume export and loading operations starting Saturday, May 13, 2023," the statement read.

According to the oil ministry, the decision to resume oil exports from fields in Iraqi Kurdistan indicates "the completion of the renegotiation of contracts with international companies to sell crude oil through the Turkish port of Ceyhan in accordance with the mechanisms adopted by Iraqi marketing company SOMO.

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In later March, the International Court of Arbitration ruled in favor of Iraq in arbitration against Turkey regarding the export of crude oil from Kurdistan without the consent of the country's central authorities. Baghdad had accused Ankara of violating a crude oil pipeline agreement signed in 1973.

Subsequently, Turkey stopped pumping some 450,000 barrels of Iraqi crude a day through the pipeline to the port of Ceyhan.