The President of the Republic approves the amendment of the budget law regarding the export of Kurdistan oil through SOMO
The President of the Republic approves the amendment of the budget law regarding the export of Kurdistan oil through SOMO
2025-02-16 01:54
Shafaq News/ Amanj Rahim, Secretary of the Kurdistan Region Council of Ministers, announced on Sunday that the President of the Republic of Iraq, Abdul Latif Jamal Rashid, approved the first amendment to the Iraqi federal budget law regarding the export of oil from the Kurdistan Region through the National Oil Marketing Company (SOMO).
Rahim stated in a post on social media today that the President of the Republic signed the first amendment to the Iraqi Federal Budget Law No. 13 of 2023 regarding the export of the region’s oil through (SOMO).
He explained that “according to the provisions of the amendment related to the cost of producing and transporting oil, the revenues from the sale of oil exported from the Kurdistan Region will return to the federal treasury.”
Rahim added, “In order to implement the law, there is only one stage left, which is to publish it in the Iraqi Official Gazette.”
At the beginning of February, the Iraqi Council of Representatives voted on the draft law amending the first law of the Federal General Budget Law of the Republic of Iraq for the fiscal years (2023 – 2024 – 2025) No. (13) of 2023.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein confirmed on Saturday that Baghdad is working to resolve technical issues with the Kurdistan Regional Government to restart the crude oil export pipeline to Turkey, after a nearly two-year closure that cost Iraq about $19 billion in lost revenues.
Turkey halted flows on the pipeline, which carries oil from Iraq’s Kurdistan Region to the Turkish port of Ceyhan, in March 2023 after an arbitration court ordered it to pay Iraq about $1.5 billion in compensation for transporting oil without Baghdad’s approval. Ankara refused to pay the fine at the time and demanded that Erbil pay it.
The closure of the pipeline has halted Iraqi oil exports by about 500,000 barrels per day, and the resumption of oil flows from Kurdistan may ease some of the impact on markets due to reduced shipments from Iraq, the main source of crude.
Iraq had been exporting about 400,000 to 500,000 barrels per day from northern fields, including the Kurdistan Region, through the now-defunct pipeline. Oil Minister Hayan Abdul Ghani said earlier this month that Iraq plans to transport at least 300,000 barrels per day of crude oil once operations resume. He added that the Iraqi administration has also begun a formal process to persuade the regional government to transfer the oil to the federal oil marketing company (SOMO).
Turkey has repeatedly said the pipeline is operational and it is up to Iraq to resume flows, and the United States has expressed a strong desire to see oil flowing through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline.
Resuming shipments through the pipeline could pose a dilemma for Baghdad, which is committed to cutting crude production as part of the OPEC+ deal but has struggled to deliver on promised cuts.
OPEC’s production and exports are under increased scrutiny after US President Donald Trump last month called on the group to “bring down the price of oil”.
shafaq.com
