Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said on Wednesday that Baghdad has historically misrepresented the Kurdistan Region’s oil production levels, insisting that OPEC has never distinguished between Kurdistan and federal Iraq in its output calculations.

Speaking during a panel discussion on the second day of the MEPS Forum, Barzani said the federal government previously claimed the Kurdistan Region produced oil “outside the amount decided by OPEC,” but stressed that this narrative is inaccurate.

“OPEC looks at Iraq as one unit and has never separated Kurdistan’s output,” Barzani said. “The Kurdistan Region has never produced more than its share.”

Kurdistan’s Production: 300,000 to 350,000 Barrels Per Day

Barzani said the Kurdistan Region’s population-based entitlement within Iraq’s total production amounts to roughly 12% to 14%.

With Iraq producing about 5 million barrels per day, a 12% share would equal 600,000 to 700,000 bpd.
“We produced only 300,000 to 350,000 barrels of oil per day,” he added.

Barzani: Recent Oil Deal Is Temporary

The KRG prime minister said the latest Baghdad–Erbil arrangements allowing limited oil exports to resume are temporary measures.

The recent oil agreements and the resumption of exports are temporary and will remain so until Iraq passes a national oil and gas law

Barzani said

He emphasized that the KRG intends to re-export oil independently once a legal framework is finalized.

Calls for Oil and Gas Law to Resolve Longstanding Disputes

Barzani urged Baghdad to draw lessons from the prolonged suspension of KRG oil exports, which halted nearly a year of revenue from the Iraq–Turkey pipeline.

I hope Iraq has learned from the suspension of Kurdistan’s oil. We all suffered. Iraq lost billions of dollars, and we were never compensated

Barzani said

He added that the Region’s budget and salaries were cut, and that “neither side benefited from the halt in exports.”

Barzani stressed that a federal oil and gas law remains the only sustainable solution to prevent recurring disputes between Baghdad and Erbil.