Northern Oil Company confirms stable Kurdistan oil exports via Ceyhan

Shafaq News– Kirkuk

Oil exports from fields in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region to Turkiye’s Ceyhan port are continuing at a stable rate of about 190,000 barrels per day, a source at the state-run Northern Oil Company told Shafaq News on Friday.

The source said crude shipments are moving smoothly through the pipeline without notable technical or operational disruptions, adding that exports are proceeding according to approved schedules and in coordination with relevant authorities.

“Northern Oil Company is conducting daily monitoring of production and pumping levels to maintain current export volumes,” he said, stressing that any changes in quantities or export mechanisms would be announced through official channels.

Exports along the Kirkuk–Ceyhan pipeline had been halted in March 2023 after an arbitration ruling by the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris ordered Turkiye to pay Iraq $1.5 billion in damages for allowing “unauthorized” oil exports by the Kurdistan Regional Government without Baghdad’s approval. Shipments resumed on September 27 following talks between Iraq’s Ministry of Oil and the Kurdistan Regional Government’s Ministry of Natural Resources, which resulted in a framework under which Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) manages and markets Kurdish crude exported.

Turkiye’s Ceyhan Port remains the primary outlet for oil exports from northern Iraq and the Kurdistan Region to global markets.

Read more: Resumption of oil exports from Kurdistan: Fragile stability with strategic implications