Iraqi Govt Signs Internal Deal to Resume Oil Exports Through Turkey

Facts

• Iraq's federal government and its Kurdistan autonomous region signed an accord Tuesday to restart oil exports through Turkey after oil shipments were halted 10 days ago.¹
• Kurdish Premier Masrour Barzani characterized the deal as “temporary” until Iraq’s parliament agrees on a new oil and gas law, but has called the agreement “a crucial step toward ending the longstanding dispute.”²
• The Iraqi Federal Oil Ministry and the Kurdistan regional Ministry of Natural Resources affirmed collaboration on the export of crude oil from Kurdistan and the Kirkuk province.³
• Iraq stopped exporting oil through the pipeline last month after an arbitration process by the International Chamber of Commerce sided with Iraq over the independent export of oil by the Kurdistan Regional Government.⁴
• Iraq is the second-largest oil producer in OPEC. Baghdad filed for arbitration against Turkey in 2014 after the Kurdistan Regional Government began exporting crude oil through neighboring countries instead of Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organization.⁴

Sources: ¹Barrons, ²Arab news, ³Xinhua and ⁴Al Jazeera.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by The national. This deal will benefit all Iraqi people — both in Kurdistan, and other provinces. For the first time, Kurdistan will have a representative in the national oil structure, which will create an inclusive environment for Iraq to pass a more permanent national oil and gas law.
• Narrative B, as provided by Al Jazeera. This agreement is an important first step in resolving decades of disagreement over oil exports in the region. More work, however, needs to be done in order to truly resolve this issue. All entitites need to work together to pass a federal law detailing the sharing of funds from oil and gas exports — there is a long road ahead.

Predictions