Baghdad blames international oil companies for obstructing Ceyhan pipeline exports

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[size=52]Baghdad blames international oil companies for obstructing Ceyhan pipeline exports[/size]

[size=45]Translated by / Hamed Ahmed[/size]
[size=45]Baghdad blamed the stalemate in not resuming oil exports from the Ceyhan pipeline in northern Iraq, due to the reluctance of international oil companies working in the fields of the Kurdistan region to amend the terms of their oil contracts that they had concluded and their refusal to any amendment, more than a year after the closure of the pipeline in March 2023, and what this cost Baghdad. Erbil suffered financial revenue losses from exporting more than 450 thousand barrels per day from the region's fields throughout that period.[/size]
[size=45]Bloomberg quoted the Iraqi Prime Minister, Muhammad Shia al-Sudani, as saying during a televised press conference on Sunday that oil companies operating in the Kurdistan region refuse to amend their oil contracts with the region, which has led to a dead end in the negotiations related to the resumption of oil exports from the region through the Ceyhan pipeline.[/size]
[size=45]Al-Sudani said during the conference, “The companies refuse to make an amendment, so there is no progress in the negotiations with the oil companies regarding the resumption of oil exports from the region to Turkey, and they stopped at this point.”[/size]
[size=45]Exports of oil from the Kurdistan region’s fields via the Iraq-Turkey Ceyhan pipeline stopped on March 23, 2023, following the issuance of a ruling by the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris in favor of Baghdad against Turkey for facilitating oil exports between 2014 and 2018 without the approval of the federal government, and Turkey must pay due amounts. According to the court’s decision, Iraq was awarded $1.5 billion, which Turkey refused to implement.[/size]
[size=45]The Iraqi Oil Ministry stated earlier this year that foreign oil companies operating in the region bear part of the blame for the delays in resuming oil exports from the region's fields. In November 2023, the Norwegian company DNO, one of the members of the Association of Six Foreign Companies Operating in the Region, known as APICOR, said in a statement that international oil companies operating in Kurdistan will no longer produce oil for export until their financial dues, future payments, and terms of sale are settled. Oil. Bloomberg notes that the group of international oil companies operating in the region, Epicor, called on members of the US Congress in January of this year to take urgent action to help solve the problem of stopping oil exports from the Kurdistan region through the Ceyhan pipeline. Epicor wrote a letter to Congress, in which she said, “Oil export is the basis of Iraq’s economy, and all Iraqis will benefit when full production operations and sales to the global market from the region resume.”[/size]
[size=45]In a report on the New Arab news website, it was stated that the chronic closure of the export pipeline had caused huge losses for both Baghdad and Erbil, as it stopped exports of crude oil at a rate of 450,000 barrels per day, constituting 0.5% of the global market’s supplies, indicating that negotiations In this regard, conflicting demands have arisen between Turkey, the regional government, and the federal government of Baghdad. Baghdad insists on the need for international oil companies to negotiate and sign new contracts with the Iraqi Ministry of Oil.[/size]
[size=45]Baghdad also insists that international companies sell their oil produced through the repaired Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline, which may provide a competing line for the Ceyhan pipeline passing from Kurdistan to Turkish territory. A decision by the Federal Supreme Court on February 23 stated that it would hand over the revenues of oil exported from the region. To Baghdad, the court also authorized the federal government accordingly to pay the salaries of the region’s civilian employees.[/size]
[size=45]In June 2023, the Iraqi Parliament approved a three-year budget amounting to 198.9 trillion dinars (equivalent to 153 billion dollars), which is the largest budget in the history of Iraq. According to this law, revenues from exports of 400,000 barrels from the region’s fields will be handed over to the federal government, with the region receiving its share of 12.6% of the total federal budget. The United States had called on both the central government and the Kurdistan Regional Government to resolve disputes related to oil exports through Turkey. US Assistant Secretary of State, Jeffrey Pyatt, visited Iraq this month and discussed energy issues and matters during his meeting with the Sudanese and the region’s Prime Minister, Masrour Barzani.[/size]
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