About 30,000 barrels per day of crude will be trucked to Iran’s Kermanshah refinery in the first instance, he said. '‘God willing, we will start before the end of the month,” he added.

Trucking crude to Iran comes under a swap agreement announced last month by the two countries to allow a resumption of oil exports from Kirkuk, Reuters reported.

Iraq and Iran have agreed to swap up to 60,000 barrels per day of crude produced from Kirkuk for Iranian oil to be delivered to southern Iraq, Luaibi said last month.

Kirkuk crude sales have been halted since Iraqi forces took back control of the fields from the Kurds in October.

Iraq and Iran are also planning to build a pipeline to carry the oil from Kirkuk to avoid having to truck the crude, Luaibi said last month.

The planned pipeline could replace the existing export route from Kirkuk via Turkey and the Mediterranean.

Reporter’s code: 50101