The Iraqi Council of Ministers, chaired by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, on Tuesday discussed non-oil revenues and the stalled oil exports from the Kurdistan Region, signaling a new policy direction on energy management.

According to officials, the file of non-oil revenues will be referred to the State Council for legal review. Although the matter was not formally on the cabinet’s agenda, Sudani said Erbil and Baghdad have yet to reach an agreement and that reports from both sides would be submitted to the council.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein and Justice Minister Khalid Shwani had earlier proposed sending the case to the Federal Court, but the cabinet opted for the State Council.

Oil Exports: Baghdad Signals End to Waiting for Companies

On the question of resuming Kurdish oil exports, Minister of Construction, Housing, and Municipalities  Bangin Rekani proposed restarting shipments on the condition that 50,000 barrels per day be directed to the federal government, with the remainder marketed through Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO). The measure, he said, would help resolve salary payments and fiscal disputes.

The proposal was unanimously supported by ministers, with Sudani declaring that Baghdad would no longer wait for international oil companies to act. “We will take whatever oil the Kurdistan Region produces, and we will no longer allow the oil companies in the Kurdistan Region to exploit us,” he said, in remarks viewed as a clear shift in federal policy toward the energy firms operating there.

Key Meeting Expected Wednesday

An adviser to Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Channel8 that a broad meeting will be held Wednesday to finalize mechanisms for resuming exports. According to the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Minister of Natural Resources, daily oil production in the region currently stands at about 230,000 barrels.

A decision on restarting exports could have a significant impact on both the federal and regional economies, ending months of deadlock that followed the suspension of flows through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline in March 2023.