Türkiye announces the date for resuming the export of Kurdistan region’s oil via the Ceyhan line

[yota691]

Losses of more than 1.5 billion dollars due to the continued suspension of the export of Kurdistan Region's crude

2023-05-23 00:57

 

 

Shafaq News/ Oil production in the Kurdistan Region continues to decline, with few indications of the resumption of exports to the Turkish port of Ceyhan, after a halt that lasted for nearly two months, according to a Reuters report.

Turkey halted the Kurdistan Region's 450,000 barrels per day exports via the Iraq-Turkey pipeline on March 25, following a ruling by the International Chamber of Commerce.

 

 

The International Criminal Court ordered Turkey to pay Baghdad $1.5 billion in compensation for exports it described as "unauthorized" by the Kurdistan Regional Government between 2014 and 2018.

It is estimated, according to Reuters, that the 59-day stoppage has cost the KRG more than $1.5 billion.

According to Reuters, the stoppage, in addition to the limited storage space in the region, halted most of the region's production of 450,000 barrels per day within weeks, indicating that the fields that continued to produce are now offline or operating at low production.

A spokesman for the operator Genel Energy said the 4,500 bpd Taq Taq field was no longer producing and storing.

According to a source familiar with field operations, the Khurmala field is now producing about 50,000 barrels per day.

This is down from 100,000 bpd a month ago and 135,000 bpd before the pipeline was shut down.

The losses resulting from the KRG's loss amounted to more than $1.5 billion, based on exports of 375,000 barrels per day, the KRG's historical discount for Brent crude and 59 days of outages.

Iraq asked Turkey this month to resume pipeline flows and loading operations at Ceyhan on May 13.

An Iraqi oil official said Turkish pipeline company Botas said it needed more time to verify the technical feasibility of the pipeline to resume flows.

However, the source said that Botas has not yet received instructions from the Turkish authorities, citing informal contacts with Turkish energy officials.

"We are talking about weeks, not days, as an expected time frame for the resumption of exports. This issue is now more political than technical," the source said.

On May 13, the Iraqi Oil Ministry, through its spokesman, Assem Jihad, renewed its confirmation of the completion of all procedures related to the operations of resuming the export of Kurdistan Region's oil through the Turkish port of Ceyhan, which has been suspended since March 25.

"The Iraqi side has completed all the procedures related to the resumption of oil exports, and the Turkish authorities have been informed of this, and are awaiting their response," Jihad said, in response to questions from journalists, including the Shafaq News Agency correspondent.

In addition, the US Bloomberg Agency reported that officials from Turkey, which is running in the second round of the presidential elections, have said that they want to negotiate a settlement of $1.5 billion before reopening the pipeline and port to Iraqi oil flows.

For his part, an Iraqi official told Bloomberg Agency that Turkey had informed Iraq that maintenance work at the port, to repair the damage caused by the recent earthquakes, is still continuing.

The federal government in Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government usually export about 450,000 barrels per day of crude oil through the port of Ceyhan, which represents about 10% of Iraq's total production, while most of the crude is exported from the southern ports on the Persian Gulf.

Source: Reuters

[yota691]

Iraq: Waiting for a final response from Turkey to resume Kurdistan Region oil exports

2023-05-23 07:18

 

Shafaq News/ The Iraqi Oil Minister, Hayan Abdul-Ghani confirmed, on Tuesday, that Baghdad "is still waiting for a final response from Turkey before resuming oil exports from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq through the Turkish port of Ceyhan.

 

"Turkey has informed his government that a technical team is working to assess whether the pipeline was damaged as a result of the devastating earthquake that occurred in February," Abdul-Ghani was quoted as saying by Reuters.

[yota691]

Oil Minister: We are waiting for a final response from Türkiye to resume the region's oil exports

 

energy
   

Economy News _ Baghdad
 Today, Tuesday, Oil Minister Hayan Abdul-Ghani confirmed that Baghdad "is still waiting for a final response from Turkey before resuming oil exports from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq through the Turkish port of Ceyhan."

"Turkey has informed his government that a technical team is working to assess whether the pipeline was damaged as a result of the devastating earthquake that occurred in February," Abdul-Ghani was quoted as saying by Reuters.

 

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Views 74

Added 05/23/2023 - 2:32 PM

[Charlie Echo]

Iraq Oil Output Continues To Fall Amid Turkey Spat

 

BY TYLER DURDEN

TUESDAY, MAY 23, 2023 - 05:00 AM

By Alex Kimani of OilPrice.com

Oil production in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)-ruled region has continued to drop, extending a stoppage that has lasted nearly two months. Export flows to Türkiye's Ceyhan port show few signs of restarting months after Ankara halted Iraq’s 450,000 barrels per day (bpd) of exports through the Iraq-Türkiye pipeline on March 25 following an ICC ruling that Türkiye should pay Baghdad damages of $1.5 billion for unauthorized exports by the KRG.

The stoppage is estimated to have cost the KRG more than $1.5 billion, with fields that had continued producing are now offline or operating with reduced output. About 10 days ago, The Iraqi State Organization for Marketing of Oil notified the Turkish state energy company Petroleum Pipeline Corporation of resuming export and loading operations. Lat month, the Iraqi federal government and the Kurdish regional government signed an agreement to resume Kurdish oil exports via Türkiye. However, Türkiye continued to halt the oil flow, saying it wants to negotiate the arbitration before exports resume. Iraq's economy relies heavily on crude oil exports, with crude accounting for more than 90 percent of the country's revenues.

The delay in resumption of exports comes at a time when French oil and gas multinational TotalEnergies finally reached an agreement with the government of Iraq to start a long-delayed $27 billion energy project.

The two parties first struck the deal back in 2021 that would see Total build four oil, gas and renewables projects in southern Iraq over 25 years with an initial investment of $10 billion. Unfortunately the giant project was shelved amid disputes and squabbling between Iraqi politicians over terms of the deal.

However, last month Iraq agreed to a smaller 30% stake in the project, setting in motion a deal that could lure foreign investment back into the country. After years of instability, Iraq has been enjoying a period of relative stability, increasing the chances of foreign investors returning to the country.

"The government of Iraq confirmed the whole contract, no modification at all ... so that was for me more than good news," Total Chief Executive Patrick Pouyanne has told Reuters.

 

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/iraq-oil-output-continues-fall-amid-turkey-spat

 

[md11fr8dawg]

Well here we go again!! Another TURD tossed into the punchbowl! What a place, what stand up politicians!

[ronscarpa]

Iraq: Waiting for a final response from Turkey to resume Kurdistan Region oil exports

 

 

2023-05-23 // 04:18

 

Shafaq News / The Iraqi Oil Minister, Hayan Abdul-Ghani confirmed, on Tuesday, that Baghdad "is still waiting for a final response from Turkey before resuming oil exports from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq through the Turkish port of Ceyhan.

 

"Turkey has informed his government that a technical team is working to assess whether the pipeline was damaged as a result of the devastating earthquake that occurred in February," Abdul-Ghani was quoted as saying by Reuters.

 

https://shafaq.com/ar/اقتصـاد/وزير-النفط-تنتظر-ردا-نها-يا-من-تركيا-لاست-ناف-صادرات-نفط-قليم-كوردستان

[yota691]

The Minister of Natural Resources confirms the statement of the Iraqi Oil Minister regarding Kurdistan's exports

2023-05-23 08:36

 

 

Shafaq News/ The Acting Minister of Natural Resources, Kamal Muhammad Salih confirmed, on Tuesday, that there is nothing left but the Turkish response to the Federal Ministry of Oil by approving the resumption of crude oil exports to the Kurdistan Region.

A statement issued by the ministry today stated that the minister highly valued the relations between the region and Baghdad regarding the oil file, during his meeting with Torkild Beugh, the European Union envoy to Iraq and head of the Union's Relations Office in Erbil.

 

The minister also said that all the differences between Erbil and Baghdad are moving towards a solution, and there is no black left in the Turkish side's response to the Federal Ministry of Oil to resume Kurdistan Region's oil exports.

 

This comes in confirmation of what Iraqi Oil Minister Hayan Abdul-Ghani said earlier that Baghdad "is still waiting for a final response from Turkey before resuming oil exports from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq through the Turkish port of Ceyhan."

 

"Turkey has informed his government that a technical team is working to assess whether the pipeline was damaged as a result of the devastating earthquake that occurred in February," Abdul-Ghani was quoted as saying by Reuters.

[boosterbglee]

Like Roseanne Roseannadanna used to say....."its always something!"

[3n1]

4 hours ago, boosterbglee said:

Like Roseanne Roseannadanna used to say....."its always something!"

 

that era on SNL had some iconic actors / comedians for sure ..

[yota691]

A report reveals the reason for Türkiye's procrastination in resuming Kurdish oil exports

2023.05.25 - 10:26

 

Baghdad - Nas  

Businessmen and politicians in Erbil said that two months have passed since the Kurdistan region’s oil exports stopped due to a Turkish-Iraqi dispute, which began to harm the interests of the private sector and the promising construction sector, as well as oil investments, at a time when uncertainty still surrounds the date for the resumption of work on the oil carrier line from Iraqi territory. To the Turkish port of Ceyhan, where Ankara once claimed that the pipelines were subject to maintenance and examination after the recent earthquake, and another that the thorny file of the presidential elections “delays many plans,” according to a report by Al-Jarida website.   

  

  

  

The report, which was followed by "NAS", (May 25, 2023), stated that businessmen in the Kurdistan region are preoccupied with counting the losses caused by the paralysis of the oil export sector, and estimates indicate that the direct daily loss exceeds 40 million dollars, which means losses of more than One billion dollars, since the end of last March, when Turkey stopped pumping Kurdistan's oil to the port of Ceyhan on the Mediterranean.  

  

Erbil used to export about 450,000 barrels per day through this line, but that stopped two months ago after the issuance of a decision by an international court in Paris in favor of Baghdad, as Iraq had filed a lawsuit against Ankara, accusing it of allowing the export of Erbil’s oil, without Baghdad’s approval, a dispute that erupted since 2014 on how to invest in oil fields and marketing mechanisms.  

  

However, the Iraqi Prime Minister, Muhammad Shia’ al-Sudani, announced since last spring that an agreement had been reached with Erbil, which he described as a “great historic” granting Baghdad the authority to export oil from the Kurdistan fields through Turkey, and an understanding of its revenues. Then, at the beginning of this month, he confirmed that almost everything is settled, indicating that The delay in resuming exports is due to Turkey, which informed Baghdad that it is maintaining and examining the pipeline, especially after the earthquake wave that recently hit the south of the country, and then the matter worsened after Ankara was preoccupied with the presidential elections and their second round.  

  

Analysts say that Turkey is not satisfied with the Baghdad-Erbil agreement, because it was not a party to details affecting its interests, not only as an oil carrier, but also because Turkish companies invest in Kurdish energy fields, or enter as executives in exploration and extraction operations.  

  

Yesterday, political circles circulated news of a visit by the Emir of the State of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad, to Baghdad next month. Ankara has an Arab cooperation package that eases uncertainty about energy lines in the Kurdistan region.  

[yota691]

'Excellent agreement'.. A new comment from the Oil Minister regarding Kurdistan's oil

2023.05.25 - 21:53

 

Baghdad - people  

On Thursday, Iraqi Oil Minister Hayan Abdul-Ghani said that an "excellent" agreement had been signed with 4 major buyers of Kurdistan's oil to export between 400,000 and 500,000 barrels per day, adding, "Turkey informed us that it is examining the system to ensure that it is not damaged."  

  

  

Abdul Ghani added, from Jeddah, to reporters (May 25, 2023), that "the regional government and the federal government signed an agreement to export oil from the Kurdistan region, which is a good agreement. The purpose of the agreement is for the oil marketing company to start the process of marketing and selling crude oil, and Turkey has been informed that Iraq is ready to export this amount of oil."  

  

He pointed out, "We have informed our brothers in Turkey that the system will be examined for possible damage caused by the earthquake in the region, and therefore the ball is now in Turkey's court." "We hope the problem will be resolved soon," Abdul-Ghani said.  

[yota691]

Unlike Erbil... an exceptional situation for Sulaymaniyah regarding the "oil delivery" agreement

Politics / Economics |Yesterday, 19:10 |

    

 

 

Baghdad today - Baghdad

For years, the city of Sulaymaniyah has been suffering from multiple crises. The economic crisis is not a spur of the moment, as its first chapters began in 2014, after the entry of ISIS into a number of cities in the country, and cut off the share of the Kurdistan region from the budget due to its failure to hand over the revenues to the federal government.

Yesterday, the Finance Committee voted to hand over the region's entire oil, and put it at the disposal of the Ministry of Oil and the "SOMO" company.

Here comes the most important question: Will this matter burden Sulaymaniyah, which is the second largest city in the Kurdistan region, or will it be in its favor?

According to the agreement, Sulaymaniyah will hand over 200,000 barrels of oil to the federal government, in addition to its natural gas, which will also be placed at Baghdad's disposal.

Natural gas in Sulaymaniyah constitutes a new problem, as it awaits the approval of the oil and gas law to solve this problem, especially if we know that 85% of it is located in the city of Sulaymaniyah.

The benefit will accrue to the city

However, a member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, Faiq Yazidi, supports handing over the entire region's oil to Baghdad, and believes that it will benefit the residents of Sulaymaniyah.

Vizidi points out in his interview with Baghdad Today that "Sulaymaniyah suffers from economic and financial crises, due to administrative and financial corruption in the regional government, and not because of handing over its revenues to Baghdad."

He added, "The obligation to deliver oil revenues to Baghdad will mean sending financial dues in full to the province, as well as paying employees' salaries every 30 days, and this matter will revive Sulaymaniyah's markets."

The employee, according to the member of the National Union, receives his salary every 50 days, and the services are weak, due to the regional government's failure to pay the city's dues.

Major decline in services

Sulaymaniyah suffers from a shortage and a significant decline in basic services, a significant increase in poverty rates and unemployment rates, and fuel prices are witnessing an insane rise.

Khaled Haidar, an economist and professor of economics at the University of Sulaymaniyah, confirms that sending financial dues from Baghdad in full to the citizens of the region means ensuring that salaries are distributed periodically.

In his interview with Baghdad Today, he indicated that "the citizen who will receive his salary will spend it on buying basic and luxury supplies as well."

However, now due to the delay in the payment of salaries, he is forced to buy the basic needs, as a result of his fear of the lack of monthly income, and this matter contributed to reducing the activity of the movement in the markets.

The most appropriate and best solution to the disagreement of corruption

On the other hand, a member of the New Generation Movement, Aram Muhammad, says that the agreement with Baghdad and the delivery of revenues is the safest and best for the people of Kurdistan and Sulaymaniyah.

He explained in his interview with Baghdad Today that "there are those who are trying to spread the influence of the Kurdish citizen on the issue of handing over the revenues to Baghdad, but this is not true at all. For years, the people of Sulaymaniyah have been living in successive crises, due to corruption and the plundering of their wealth by the ruling parties."

He pointed out that "sending financial dues by the federal government will revive the economic movement and markets of Sulaymaniyah, but the region must first fulfill its commitment to Baghdad, and not as it happens every time when an agreement takes place, and it is violated."

The most prominent question here comes, will the regional government abide by the budget agreement, and what about the issue of natural gas, especially since the current agreement that was concluded recently between the federal government and the regional government talks about the delivery of 400 thousand barrels of oil per day to the National Oil Company SOMO.

On the fourth of April, Prime Minister Muhammad Shia al-Sudani agreed with the President of the Kurdistan Regional Government to hand over the region's oil to Baghdad, after the suspension of Kurdistan's exports by Turkey, as a result of the International Arbitration Court obliging Turkey to pay compensatory sums of one billion and 471 million dollars to Iraq.

[yota691]

Provincial government: delay is not in your favor!

51 minutes ago

 

 

Rahim Al-Aboudi |..

There is no doubt that the agreement of the central government with the Kurdistan Regional Government changed a lot in the equation of balance, especially after the recent decision of the French International Court of Arbitration, which fined neighboring Turkey 28 billion US dollars in fines for oil smuggled across the borders of the regional government and neighboring Turkey, which forced the regional government to deal differently. With the central government under the title of finding a basis for understandings and zeroing out crises, and this is the approach and approach of the State of Prime Minister Muhammad Shayaa al-Sudani, where President Nechirvan Barazni came to Baghdad and the regional government and the federal government signed an agreement stipulating the adoption of a mechanism for exporting oil through the Federal National Company (SOMO) to be These funds are in one bank account under the auspices of the Central Bank of Iraq, and according to exports, the region is paid its dues in terms of salaries and other expenses, provided that there is an audit of the accounts every period in order to know what has been paid of the region’s debt as a result of the accumulated from previous years and to treat that with an arithmetic clearing and onlyThe percentage recognized and established in the budget law (12.67%) on the one hand.

On the other hand, there is a discussion going on in the corridors of the Finance Committee about the share of the region and the mechanisms and not to repeat the mistakes of the past, given that the budget is for three years and not for one year, which means that any mistake, financing or misplaced spending will cause large losses of public money and increase the balance of the current deficit, which The Finance Committee and its members were keen to reduce this deficit, and when things came to a close, proposals began to flow from the partners in the region, especially after the great disagreement between the Democratic Party and the Union, which revealed many details and injustices occurring in some chapters of spending and allocations for the regional government, and after rounds of dialogue and discussions, an agreement was reached and signed Kurdish deputies from various Kurdish parties agreed on the final agreement, which annoyed the regional government and the Democratic Party exclusively.

Certainly, it affected the change of the deadline announced for voting on the budget, but I believe that the brothers will return to the agreement and give preference to the public interest over the private interest, because the delay is not in the interest of everyone, especially the regional government, because it does not export oil at present due to the Turkish refusal to pay what it owes and bargains and cannot damage some sections of the pipeline. (Cihan Pipe) and delays re-export, which is pressure papers on the Iraqi federal government and the regional government not to demand the withdrawal of the Turkish forces entering deep into Iraq under the pretext of fighting the PKK, as well as reducing water imports to the Tigris and Euphrates, which is a matter that greatly harms the Iraqi economy and exacerbates the problem of drought and desertification on the other hand.

All of them are sovereign files in which priority must be given to the national interest, which is the responsibility of the federal government because it is a sovereign matter, but for the sake of political gains, the Kurdish brothers deal with high pragmatism in this, which may delay the budget for a longer period unless the leaders sit down and end the debate, especially in the ruling coalition, the State Administration Coalition, since there is a card A political agreement that defined priorities and tasks and identified the national and sovereign interest, which requires the commitment of everyone in order to maintain political stability and not to fragment positions and decisions against neighboring countries, because as a result, the sovereign decision and the prestige of the country are weakened in the face of existing challenges.

[yota691]

After stopping Türkiye lines

Iraq seeks to revive oil pipelines with three Arab countries

2023.05.28 - 09:42

 

Baghdad - people  

Iraq is moving towards reviving oil pipelines with three Arab countries, after Turkey's pipelines stopped.  

  

 

  

  

  

[yota691]

Two months after the suspension of Kurdistan's oil... a loss of 2 billion dollars, and the date of appeal is unknown

economy |Yesterday, 19:59 |

    

 

 

Baghdad today-Erbil

Today, Saturday, the economist and consultant on oil affairs, Kovind Sherwani, counted the losses incurred by Kurdistan and Iraq, two months after the continued suspension of the region's oil exports through the Turkish port of Ceyhan. 

 

Sherwani said in an interview with "Baghdad Today", that "if we assume that Iraq's exports from Kurdistan and Kirkuk through the port of Ceyhan amount to 480 thousand barrels per day, and a barrel of oil is sold for 70 dollars, then the loss for one day amounts to 33 million dollars."

 

He added, "The loss since the export cessation, that is, since March 25, amounts to more than two billion dollars, and this loss has befallen the Iraqi economy in general, because the agreement concluded between Baghdad and Erbil made the responsibility of the region's oil under the supervision of SOMO."

 

The Iraqi government and the Ministry of Oil had announced earlier, and more than once, the imminent resumption of oil exports via Turkey, but international reports confirm that indications do not suggest the possibility of resuming oil exports soon, especially with the Turkish side preoccupied with the elections before resolving an issue and the type of agreement with Iraq regarding export. Oil according to the new situation under the administration of Baghdad

[ametad]

I do believe the lion’s share of the oil is being produced by the southern half of the country, enough to adequately provide for all Iraqis if agreed upon an allocation to the people. This line is actually unnecessary, only the greed of those few benefiting from oil exports from the north is being awoken.

[yota691]

The North Company reveals the destinations of Kirkuk oil after stopping its export to Turkey

2023.06.02 - 13:26

 

Baghdad - Nas  

The production of the Kirkuk fields of crude oil is marketed locally, as it is distributed to oil refineries in Iraq, after the cessation of the export process abroad through the pipelines of the Kurdistan Region.  

 

  

  

Kirkuk oil was exported daily through the pipelines of the Kurdistan Region to the Turkish port of Ceyhan, but the export process has stopped since March 25, 2023, by a decision of the International Court of Arbitration in Paris, based on a complaint by the Iraqi government against the export of Kurdistan Region's oil.  

  

The complaint submitted by the Iraqi government came because of the differences between Baghdad and Erbil over the file of crude oil production and export, which remained pending for years.  

  

Farhad Hamza, chief engineer of the North Oil Company - which supervises Kirkuk's oil wells - said, "The halt in oil exports did not cause harm to the people of Kirkuk and will not have repercussions, because most of the oil produced in the province's fields is pumped to refineries."  

  

He explained that the crude oil is sent to the Kar, Qaiwan, Haditha and Baiji refineries and other refineries in the various governorates of Iraq.  

  

In the month of May, there were no oil exports to Turkey, while the total crude oil exports for the month of March amounted to 1,727,494 barrels, with revenues exceeding 124 million dollars.  

  

"Oil production did not stop due to the cessation of exports... Currently, 350 thousand barrels are produced per day as before, and most of them are pumped to refineries, except for the oil that is exported to Jordan. Production decreased for a few days, then returned as before," according to Farhad Hamza.  

Early this month, the Iraqi government renewed its agreement with Jordan to export 10,000 barrels of Kirkuk crude oil per day by tankers.  

The chief engineer of the North Oil Company explained that they can process the oil produced in Kirkuk even if it is not exported abroad, because there are large oil storages and when they are full, plans are made to use the reserves.  

Kirkuk oil is exported daily through the pipelines of the Kurdistan region to the Turkish port of Ceyhan, but the export process has been suspended since March 25 by a decision of the International Arbitration Court in Paris, based on a complaint from the Iraqi government against the export of Kurdistan region's oil.  

The complaint submitted by the Iraqi government came because of the differences between Baghdad and Erbil over the file of crude oil production and export, which remained pending for years.  

On April 4, 2023, the Iraqi federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government reached a temporary agreement to resume oil exports through pipelines that pass through the Kurdistan Region to Turkey until the oil and gas law is approved, but exports have not resumed yet.  

Ali Hammadi, assistant governor of Kirkuk for technical affairs, expressed his concern that stopping exports would affect oil production and thus reduce Kirkuk's petrodollar budget.  

According to the ministerial platform of the Iraqi government, the petrodollar budget is spent at a rate of 5 percent for the oil-producing provinces.
Hammadi believes that stopping oil exports does not directly affect the people of Kirkuk, but it may have repercussions on oil production, given that the quantity that is produced now is for refineries only.  

There are five main oil fields in Kirkuk, Avana, Bai Hassan, Qubbat Baba, Jambur and Khabza, which are supervised by the North Oil Company of the Iraqi government.  

  

Source: KirkukNow  

[yota691]

Report: The decision of the Supreme Court in Baghdad stirs disputes in Kurdistan

2023.06.02 - 20:43

 

Baghdad - Nas  

The political despair of the Kurdish parties in Iraq after the country's Federal Supreme Court approved the unconstitutionality of extending the work of the Kurdistan Parliament and considering the decisions issued by it since last October invalid.  

 

 

And in front of the decision of the Federal Supreme Court (the highest court in Iraq), the political forces stood shoulder to shoulder and recalled their memory to two decades since the American invasion of their country, and their situation (if the solutions known 20 years ago to solve the problems of the parties had expired, then such a ruling would not have been issued as an extension of unconstitutionality The Kurdistan Regional Parliament worked for a year).  

  

A constitutional ruling has become final, but what made it more exciting was the standing of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, led by Pavel Talabani, and the new generation led by Shaswar Abdul Wahid behind him, to be the first precedent of its kind in Baghdad in issuing a judicial decision regarding a dispute within Iraqi Kurdistan on such a large scale.  

  

Rather, the dissolution of the Iraqi Kurdistan Parliament will set a precedent for it in terms of its inability to extend the work of its next sessions, as happened in the past, because this ruling ended the flexibility it enjoyed in terms of extension until an agreement between the Kurdish forces on the election law, as was the case in every-time.  

  

Move the problem  

  

Essam Al-Faili, an academic specializing in political science at Al-Mustansiriya University, said that the Federal Court's decision to transfer the problem from within the Kurdistan region of Iraq to the center (Baghdad), is likely that the Kurdish forces will witness more crises and defections.  

  

Al-Faili monitors a bleak picture, adopting a future full of crises and defections for the Kurdish forces at a time when there was no strategic vision for the region's issue as a nation's issue, and this is a dangerous precedent in this direction and indicates the weakness of the political forces in the matter of treatment, according to Al-Faili.  

  

He expected the birth of many crises in Iraqi Kurdistan in the absence of the calm and rational voice of the Kurds, warning that this matter would mean more fragmentation and the failure to find solutions to the current outstanding problems in the long term.  

  

He said, "The Iraqi government fears the political dispersal of the Kurdish forces, because it means dealing with intersecting opinions from the region and opening the way for many foreign interventions in the country," pointing out that this step will be reflected in the process of voting in the Iraqi parliament on the budget, and the Kurdistan Democratic Party, along with other forces, will withdraw from the component. Sunni, according to the Iraqi academic who specializes in political science.  

  

It is believed that any withdrawal from the forces of the Sunni component will be support for the Kurdistan Democratic Party, given that Erbil has geostrategic depth and a high level of acceptance by all parties, indicating that these parties view the capital of the region with more respect and love than Sulaymaniyah. It is likely that the Federal Court's decision will negatively affect Barzani's authority and deepen the existing crisis between the center and the region in the coming days.  

  

Sulaymaniyah and Erbil  

  

Severe disagreements within the Kurdistan region, in which the director of the Iraq Center for Strategic Studies, Ghazi Faisal, saw a major reason for resorting to the Federal Court in Baghdad, saying, "The internal contradictions in terms of political positions and economic issues emerged between the Patriotic Union and the Kurdistan Democratic Party in particular because they have deep historical roots."  

  

He noted that these contradictions and conflicts began to take on an economic dimension related to the sharing of wealth and influence, and there were proposals that spoke of the need for Sulaymaniyah to be a federal region, and thus there would be two federations, one for Sulaymaniyah and the second for Erbil, and this reflects the depth of the fundamental differences and interests between the two parties. Referred here to the division of the Iraqi Kurdistan region into three provinces (Dohuk, Erbil and Sulaymaniyah).  

  

He expressed his fear that the size of the differences would increase the risks of regional interference, referring to Iran's role in an attempt to divide the Kurdistan region in order not to provide a good model for federal rule.  

  

Faisal drew a short line that would help the region reach a quick solution, and his side would start going to new legislative elections, but he collides with the opinion of the Democratic Party that supports postponing them, despite the fact that the decision of the Federal Court is correct and consistent with the constitution.  

  

legal consequences  

  

The journalist specializing in Kurdish affairs, Yassin Taha, considered that the court’s decision would have more legal than political consequences, as the two Kurdish parties are currently studying the repercussions of the ruling, saying, “The decision will stop the bickering and bickering regarding amending the old election law for the Kurdistan region and reactivating the commission in the last session that took place.” Fistfight and water bottles.  

  

He stated that the decision turns the regional government into a caretaker and nullifies the measures taken by the parliament in Kurdistan to accept resignations and appoint 6 replacement deputies, in addition to issuing decisions and laws, including the detailed and unprecedented education law.  

  

Taha said that the Kurdish circles are busy calculating aspects of profit and loss resulting from the decision, indicating that everyone may be obligated to resort to the Federal Commission to hold elections after the ruling invalidating the activation of the region's commission.  

  

The ruling constitutes a precedent in the history of Iraqi Kurdistan, but it is logically sound and distinguished with a friendly spirit when it listed in the preamble the justifications for its adoption in accordance with international and federal laws as well as the regulations in force in the region, all of which close the door to the extension of any elected council or body for four calendar years, according to the Kurdish journalist.  

  

But at the same time, he believes that the decision constitutes a setback for the democratic experience in the region, which dates back to 1992, in contrast to the federal experience that led to the first free elections in 2005.  

  

And he went on to say that everyone was looking at the Kurdistan region as another Iraq and a different model, but the failure of the political forces to hold the elections on time resulted in this interference from the constitutional judiciary to correct the process, explaining that the appeal to it was by the former Speaker of Parliament and a new opposition force, and this motivates others to resort to it. Federal judiciary when they reach despair in the territory.  

  

Recently, resorting to Baghdad became the slogan of the Kurds after employees and ordinary people took refuge in the Federal Court in order to restore their rights, referring here to a previous ruling issued by it to invalidate an article of the Higher Education Law in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, and lawsuits related to saved salaries were also received.  

  

Muayad al-Tarfi - The Independent Arabia 

[yota691]

Washington follows the faltering resumption of Kurdish oil exports via Türkiye

2023.06.04 - 20:40

 

Baghdad - people  

The Minister of Natural Resources in the Kurdistan Regional Government, Kamal Muhammad Salih, discussed with the US Energy Affairs Officer for the Middle East, Chris Davey, the stalled resumption of the Kurdistan Region's oil exports via Turkey.  

  

  

The ministry said in a statement, which “NAS” received a copy of, (June 4, 2023), “The Acting Minister of Electricity and Natural Resources, Kamal Muhammad Salih, met with Chris Davey, Head of Energy Affairs in the Middle East and North Africa region, Consul General and Head of Economic Affairs at the American Consulate in the Kurdistan Region.” and the accompanying delegation.  

  

The statement added, "The Minister of Natural Resources spoke during the meeting about the importance of the agreement between the Kurdistan Region and Iraq regarding oil exports and the efforts made to write a draft federal oil and gas law. Among other topics in the meeting was the status of electricity, projects and investment opportunities in the oil and electricity sectors."  

  

The US delegation said, according to the statement, that "the aim of the visit is to get acquainted with the date of the resumption of oil exports through the Kirkuk-World pipeline, and the presence of US companies in the Kurdistan region and their investments in the oil and electricity sectors."  

  

He pointed out that "the US delegation listened with interest to the reasons for not resuming oil exports from the Kurdistan region."  

  

The US envoy said, according to the statement, that "his country attaches great importance to the Middle East and Iraq, especially the relations between Baghdad and Erbil, and he affirmed his country's support for normalization and the agreement between Baghdad and Erbil."  

  

The statement concluded, "Finally, the meeting discussed the electricity sector, production conditions, electricity projects, investment opportunities, and assistance to the Kurdistan region to revive, develop, and improve electricity services."  

[Charlie Echo]

Iraq Oil Output Continues To Fall Amid Turkey Spat

BY TYLER DURDEN

TUESDAY, MAY 23, 2023 - 05:00 AM

By Alex Kimani of OilPrice.com

Oil production in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)-ruled region has continued to drop, extending a stoppage that has lasted nearly two months. Export flows to Türkiye's Ceyhan port show few signs of restarting months after Ankara halted Iraq’s 450,000 barrels per day (bpd) of exports through the Iraq-Türkiye pipeline on March 25 following an ICC ruling that Türkiye should pay Baghdad damages of $1.5 billion for unauthorized exports by the KRG.

The stoppage is estimated to have cost the KRG more than $1.5 billion, with fields that had continued producing are now offline or operating with reduced output. About 10 days ago, The Iraqi State Organization for Marketing of Oil notified the Turkish state energy company Petroleum Pipeline Corporation of resuming export and loading operations. Lat month, the Iraqi federal government and the Kurdish regional government signed an agreement to resume Kurdish oil exports via Türkiye. However, Türkiye continued to halt the oil flow, saying it wants to negotiate the arbitration before exports resume. Iraq's economy relies heavily on crude oil exports, with crude accounting for more than 90 percent of the country's revenues.

The delay in resumption of exports comes at a time when French oil and gas multinational TotalEnergies finally reached an agreement with the government of Iraq to start a long-delayed $27 billion energy project.

The two parties first struck the deal back in 2021 that would see Total build four oil, gas and renewables projects in southern Iraq over 25 years with an initial investment of $10 billion. Unfortunately the giant project was shelved amid disputes and squabbling between Iraqi politicians over terms of the deal.

However, last month Iraq agreed to a smaller 30% stake in the project, setting in motion a deal that could lure foreign investment back into the country. After years of instability, Iraq has been enjoying a period of relative stability, increasing the chances of foreign investors returning to the country.

"The government of Iraq confirmed the whole contract, no modification at all ... so that was for me more than good news," Total Chief Executive Patrick Pouyanne has told Reuters.

 

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/iraq-oil-output-continues-fall-amid-turkey-spat 

[yota691]

When Will Kurdish Oil Exports Resume?

By Shahriar Sheikhlar - Jun 12, 2023, 6:00 PM CDT

• Crude exports from Iraqi Kurdistan to Turkey remain offline, 75 days after they were interrupted.
• Most Iraqi and Kurdish parties domestically and foreign friends internationally, including the United States, welcomed and supported the Erbil-Baghdad agreement on Kurdistan's oil exports.
• Wealthy Kurdish investors play a major role in supporting federal government projects in the renovation and expansion of power plants and refineries in the central and southern provinces.

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Kurdistan's oil export is yet to resume through the Turkish pipeline, 75 days after it was blocked following the ICC's arbitration court's decision issued on March 23, 2023, only two days after Kurdish New Year holidays known as Nawroz. Despite the fact that both administrations in Erbil and Baghdad were only able to reach an agreement within 10 days of the court's decision, the complicated process of restarting Kurdistan's oil exports has not yet been finished on a trilateral basis between the governments of Kurdistan Regional of Iraq, the Iraqi federal administration, and Turkey.

 

Unlike most estimates about the Erbil-Baghdad agreement, in Erbil and among worldwide supporters of the deals, notably in Washington DC, the arrangement couldn’t play the anticipated role in moving two governments closer to settling their long-standing disagreements. The long delays in restarting the Kurdistan oil export, followed by unexpected federal officials’ positions on Kurdistan's oil and eventually unilateral modifications by some Iraqi parties' parliamentarians in the previously agreed draft of the federal budget, indicate a rocky road in running the oil deal between two governments.

 

Oil deal between Erbil and Baghdad

 

The ICC Arbitration Court's decision on Kurdistan's oil export through Turkey's pipeline on March 23, 2023, despite highlighting the delivery of Kurdistan's oil to its buyer's vessels in Ceyhan in violation of the 1973 Iraq-Turkey agreement and its revision in 2010, resulted in the region's oil export being halted quickly, only two days after the issuance date. 

 

Frictions surrounding Kurdistan's oil, which escalated to include reducing its allocation from the federal budget, first arose in 2007 with the passage of Kurdistan's oil and gas law by its parliament. This was followed by the establishment of the Ministry of Natural Resources to oversee the region's oil and gas policies. However, tensions intensified when Kurdistan's oil pipeline was linked to a Turkish pipeline, enabling access to international markets.

 

Following Kurdistan's ambitious plan to meet European market demand with its natural gas reserves in early 2022, the federal supreme court's ruling on February 15th, 2022, assumed Kurdistan's oil and gas to be unconstitutional, and subsequent pushes by the Iraqi oil ministry on foreign companies working in the region's oil and gas to leave Kurdistan regional oil projects, made Kurdistan's oil and gas risky for most international service providers, however, the ICC Arbitration Court's decision largely halted the region's oil production, which eventually encouraged both governments to resume it through an agreement signed at April 4th, 2023, but recent developments in the Iraqi political context have cast serious doubt on the deal's future.

 

Hopes on Oil Deal

 

Most Iraqi and Kurdish parties domestically and foreign friends internationally, including the United States, welcomed and supported the Erbil-Baghdad agreement on Kurdistan's oil export as the first major step toward resolving all long-standing disputes between the two governments over land, federal budget shares, oil and gas, and border controls.

 

Permanent differences between the federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) were seen to be resolved through the adoption of mutually acceptable laws for federal hydrocarbon management and the 2023 federal budget, the latter of which will serve as a framework for fiscal years 2023 through 2025.

 

Indeed, the agreement has been found supportive of the Iraqi federal plan for improving the state’s energy security, including the cooperation's with neighboring countries to improve its capability in electricity supply, attracting some giant energy companies to participate in its natural gas and power production projects, where certain wealthy Kurdish investors play a major role in supporting federal government projects in the renovation and expansion of power plants and refineries in the central and southern provinces.

 

Difficulties began as a result of federal budget negotiation

 

Modifications unilaterally opposed by the Iraqi parliament out of the agreed-upon structure of the federal budget would result in a lower share of KRG in the federal budget and strengthen doubts on the chance to make a win-win federal hydrocarbon law, which was previously assumed could secure Kurdistan's rights according to the Iraqi Constitution and, most seriously, the Iraqi federal ability to satisfy its agreements with KRG in the presence of the Iraqi Federal Supreme Court, whose decisions are mostly against Kurdish understanding of the Constitution.

 

KRG's oil and gas production capacity, as well as administrative competencies, were the principal targets of federal budget modifications. Despite the fact that the majority of these regions have been under KRG control since 1991—roughly 12 years prior to the formation of the new Iraqi government in the wake of the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003—the KRG's access will be eliminated to the already-developed oil fields in its administration areas placed in the provinces of Ninawa and Kirkuk. Also, the federal budget demanded that the KRG deliver at least 400,000 bpd of oil in order to receive its full share of the budget, which was well beyond the region's actual oil production capacity, especially considering that most oil fields within the KRG's territorial area had been shut down for over two months.

 

Another change appears to have been made with international oil sales in mind; it states that if Kurdistan’s oil loses access to the Turkish Ceyhan port, it must deliver its oil to the federal government for domestic refining instead.

 

This would, among other modifications, reduce the Iraqi federal government's interest in settling the financial fines issues over the ICC arbitration decision with the Turkey government, which amount to about $1.47 billion and have remained the main barrier to resuming oil flow on the Turkish side, as well as raise difficulties in handling this amount internally in Iraq due to a lack of refinery capacity in the KRG and neighboring Iraqi provinces, as well as resolving contractual issues with international buyers of Kurdistan's oil, who mostly have paid for it in advance. 

 

However, the most critical current change is that it eliminated payable expenditure for Kurdistan's oil production to be the same as Iraqi federal production rates, despite the fact that oil production in Kurdistan is in Production Sharing Agreements (PSA), which required oil operators to fund production against the Iraqi contract type of Technical Purchasing Agreement (TPA) using Iraqi federal funds. The different types of contracts and funds, as well as the nature of oil fields in both areas of Iraq, resulted in a 10 to 15 USD per barrel difference in Kurdistan's oil production side compared to the Iraqi federal side, and will automatically deduct the semi-autonomous region's budget amount to pay the extra costs to oil operator companies working in the region. This change will not only increase financial obstacles for KRG but will also reduce the development budget for future projects, resulting in less production capability in future months and years and reducing KRG's income from the federal budget, where its production rate is defined as a minimum of 400,000 bpd to receive its entire share of the federal budget.

 

Uncertainty over the oil deal

 

Indeed, the existing difficulties faced by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) regarding the federal budget appear even more troubling when coupled with the statements made by Iraqi authorities regarding Kurdistan oil and their frequent changes in the projected timeline for resuming the export process. Particularly noteworthy are the recent comments made by the Iraqi federal government during an interview with Kurdish Rudaw TV, which highlighted the Iraqi government's financial gains resulting from the suspension of Kurdistan's oil exports.

 

In truth, the current challenges of KRG over the federal budget look more problematic when they would be companied by the Iraqi authorities words about Kurdistan oil and their repeated revises in claimed time for resuming the export procedure, critically the recent Iraqi federal remarks on Kurdistan's oil halt, described in profit of the Iraqi federal government during an interview with Kurdish Rudaw TV. 

 

The probable lower share of the KRG in the federal budget, caused by recent modifications in federal budget law, and doubts over passing a win-win hydrocarbon law in the federal parliament, raised uncertainty about the Erbil-Baghdad agreement and could encourage KRG to go it alone. Turkey might be willing to directly cooperate with the KRG for higher transit prices and more discounts over purchasing oil, compared to its contract with Iraq.

 

As a consequence, it's not far from the truth to claim that the future of the Erbil-Baghdad oil deal is ambiguous and questionable, as other earlier deals have faced the same trust, without being initially operated or terminated midway, during the last two decades.

Shahriar Sheikhlar is an oil and gas analyst concentrating on Kurdistan’s and Iraq’s oil and gas industry. He consults local and international news media and think tanks on oil and gas development policy, energy security, and market analysis.

By Shahriar Sheikhlar for Oilprice.com

[yota691]

The losses of the Kurdistan region amount to two billion dollars before talks on the resumption of oil exports

2023.06.13 - 22:38

 

Baghdad - people   

Two sources said on Tuesday that Iraq and Turkey are scheduled to start technical talks by early next week on resuming oil exports from northern Iraq, but hopes appear low that a quick solution can be reached.  

  

  

Turkey stopped Iraq's exports of 450,000 barrels per day through the oil pipeline that extends from the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region in northern Iraq to the Turkish port of Ceyhan on March 25.  

  

Calculations indicate that the 80-day stoppage has cost the Kurdistan Regional Government more than two billion dollars.  

  

The two sources, familiar with the discussions, said on condition of anonymity that discussions at a technical level regarding the resumption of exports between Iraq and Turkey are scheduled to take place over the weekend or early next week.  

  

An Iraqi oil official from the state-run North Oil Company said that the Turkish state energy company said that the pipeline (TADAWUL:2360) needs further technical examination before restarting and will send a technical note on the status of the pipeline in the coming days.  

  

The source said that this does not mean the resumption of exports immediately because this decision requires high-level political talks. He added that a Turkish energy delegation is expected to arrive in Baghdad, but he has not set a date yet.  

  

Turkey's decision to suspend exports followed an arbitration decision by the International Chamber of Commerce that ordered Turkey to pay Baghdad $1.5 billion in compensation for damages caused by the Kurdistan Regional Government's export of oil without permission from the government in Baghdad between 2014 and 2018.  

  

Attempts to restart the pipeline were delayed by last month's Turkish presidential election and discussions between the Iraqi government's Oil Marketing Company (SOMO) and the KRG over an export deal that has now been reached.  

  

Hopes for a resumption of work were boosted when Turkish President Alp Arslan Bayraktar was named energy and natural resources minister on June 3.  

  

Sources said earlier that among the issues to be resolved is that Turkey seeks to negotiate the amount of compensation ordered by the International Chamber of Commerce.  

  

The sources said they also want to permanently resolve outstanding issues in other open arbitration cases before they agree to resume flows.  

  

Yesterday, Monday, the Iraqi parliament approved the 2023 budget, which included some articles that negate the financial independence of the Kurdistan Regional Government.  

  

And the Kurdistan region suffers from a lack of liquidity due to the interruption of the pipeline, and Iraqi politicians and Kurdish lawmakers said that the region had no other choice but to approve the budget, from which it would receive 12.67 percent of the total 198.9 trillion dinars ($ 153 billion).  

  

The loss in KRG revenue due to the 80-day oil shutdown is more than $2 billion, according to Reuters calculations based on exports of 375,000 barrels per day, plus the KRG's historical discount to the price of Brent crude.  

  

The pipeline was also exporting about 75,000 barrels per day of federal crude.  

  

Source: Reuters  

[yota691]

Reuters: Kurdistan loses two billion dollars from stopping oil exports within 80 days

Economy

2023-06-14 | 03:39

 

1,303 views

Alsumaria News - Economy

Iraq is working to start technical talks with Turkey by early next week on resuming oil exports from northern Iraq, but hopes appear weak that a quick solution can be reached, sources told Reuters.

Turkey stopped Iraq's exports of 450,000 barrels per day through the oil pipeline that extends from the Kurdistan region in northern Iraq to the Turkish port of Ceyhan on March 25.

Reuters calculations indicate that the 80-day stoppage has cost the Kurdistan Regional Government more than two billion dollars.

 

 

The two sources, familiar with the discussions, said on condition of anonymity that discussions at a technical level regarding the resumption of exports between Iraq and Turkey are scheduled to take place over the weekend or early next week.

An Iraqi oil official from the state-run North Oil Company told Reuters that the Turkish state energy company said the pipeline needs further technical examination before restarting and will send a technical note on the status of the pipeline in the coming days.

The source said that this does not mean the resumption of exports immediately because this decision requires high-level political talks, adding that a Turkish energy delegation is expected to arrive in Baghdad, but he has not set a date yet.

Turkey's decision to suspend exports followed an arbitration decision by the International Chamber of Commerce that ordered Turkey to pay Baghdad $1.5 billion in compensation for damages caused by the Kurdistan Regional Government's export of oil without permission from the government in Baghdad between 2014 and 2018.

Attempts to restart the pipeline were delayed by last month's Turkish presidential election and discussions between the Iraqi government's Oil Marketing Company (SOMO) and the KRG over an export deal that has now been reached.

Hopes for the resumption of work were boosted when Turkish President Alp Arslan Bayraktar appointed Minister of Energy and Natural Resources on June 3.

Sources told Reuters earlier that among the issues to be resolved was that Turkey seek to negotiate the amount of compensation ordered by the International Chamber of Commerce.

The sources said they also want to permanently resolve outstanding issues in other open arbitration cases before they agree to resume flows.

Last Monday, the Iraqi parliament approved the 2023 budget, which included some articles that negate the financial independence of the Kurdistan Regional Government.

And the Kurdistan region suffers from a lack of liquidity due to the interruption of the pipeline, and Iraqi politicians and Kurdish lawmakers said that the region had no other choice but to approve the budget, from which it would receive 12.67 percent of the total 198.9 trillion dinars ($ 153 billion).

The loss in KRG revenue due to the 80-day oil shutdown is more than $2 billion, according to Reuters calculations based on exports of 375,000 barrels per day, plus the KRG's historical discount to the price of Brent crude.

The pipeline was also exporting about 75,000 barrels per day of federal crude

[DanP]

I would tell Turkey to pound sand and run all the oil through Jordan. Let turkey use the existing pipeline to hang burkas. 

[Goggles]

Hey I’m no expert, but I heard Turkey had a big earthquake, like they often do, and it made that pipeline either unstable or completely broke it. Cheers to Kurdistan for relying on an earthquake zone to use for a pipeline zone? Doesn’t seem like a winner if you’re asking me. But maybe their choices are little. You decide.