Hamdi Shingali, Deputy Director of the State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO), said that the export of oil from the Kurdistan Region will reach 400,000 barrels per day in the near future.

Shingali told reporters that "after three months, APIKUR [the Association of the Petroleum Industry of Kurdistan], Baghdad, and Erbil will sign a tripartite agreement to extend it," he said.

"SOMO needs Kurdistan Region oil,” he stressed.

Exports Resume After Two-Year Suspension

The agreement between Erbil and Baghdad and oil companies was signed and announced on September 25. Two days after that, oil exports recommenced from the Kurdistan Region to global markets via the Iraqi-Turkey pipeline, which had been suspended for nearly two years and six months.

In last week's meeting of the cabinet, the KRG reiterated its compliance with the tripartite oil agreement. The government said that since the agreement was struck, the Ministry of Natural Resources has delivered an average of 195,000 barrels of oil per day from oil fields to SOMO, and the revenues have been returned to the federal treasury.

Oil Company Demands Remain Unresolved

However, some issues and demands of oil companies still remain to be resolved, and reportedly the matter is under discussion.

The agreement does not clearly state that Iraq will be responsible for repaying the debts owed by the KRG to oil companies.

Earlier, SOMO stated the oil agreement with the Kurdistan Region does not oblige the federal government to repay the debts of oil companies.