The association, composed of eight international oil companies, issued a statement on Sunday September 22, urging the restart of oil exports to Turkey, which have been halted since March 25, 2023.
The Kurdistan Oil Industry Association welcomed recent statements by Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, who suggested a potential resolution to the oil export issue by the end of the year. They have requested the resumption of oil exports from the Kurdistan Region through the Turkish pipeline to global markets. Foreign oil companies, the Kurdistan Regional Government, and the Iraqi central government are currently embroiled in a dispute over the future of these companies' operations following rulings by the Iraqi Federal Court requiring oil exports from the Kurdistan Region to be conducted under the control of the federal government.
In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Mohammed al-Sudani cited the high cost of crude oil production in the Kurdistan Region compared to the lower cost in areas under the control of the central government as the main point of contention with the foreign oil companies.