Iraqi Government Submits Bill on Kurdistan Region's Oil to Parliament

Iraqi Oil Ministry Media

Iraqi Oil Minister Hayyan Abdul Ghani.

The Iraqi Oil Minister revealed that the government has submitted a bill to parliament seeking to receive oil from the Kurdistan Region in exchange for an advance payment of $16 per barrel.

Iraqi Oil Minister Hayyan Abdul Ghani told the Iraqi state media that the government has submitted a bill to parliament for consideration, which proposes receiving the Region's oil and paying $16 a barrel in advance.

He noted that this will continue until the true costs of producing oil from the Region's oil-producing fields are re-studied, and in exchange, the Region must supply no less than 250,000 to 300,000 barrels per day to sell them through the Iraqi Oil Marketing Company (SOMO).

Regarding oil prices, Abdul Ghani affirmed that they range between $70-80 per barrel, hoping that they will remain at these levels or slightly increase in order to give the required financial resources for the Iraqi state's budget.

The proposal to amend the paragraph related to resuming the export of the Kurdistan Region's oil in the Federal General Budget Law faced opposition from some parliamentary blocs, as it was scheduled to be voted on during the Iraqi Parliament's session on 19 January 2025.

MP Sabah Habib, a member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) bloc in parliament, told PUKMEDIA that the proposal to resume the export of Kurdistan Region oil did not receive approval from the members of parliament, and the legal quorum was broken during the session, so the proposal was not voted on.

He noted that amending the article relating to the export of Kurdistan Region oil requires parliamentary bloc consensus as well as additional debate and negotiation.

Oil flows through the Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) pipeline were halted by Türkiye in March 2023 after the International Chamber of Commerce ordered Ankara to pay Baghdad damages of $1.5 billion for unauthorised exports by the KRG between 2014 and 2018.



PUKMEDIA