The head of Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) said on Monday that they are “working to implement the agreed-upon terms” to resume the Kurdistan Region’s long-halted oil exports, with exports expected to restart “soon.” “I am optimistic about the positive measures and discussions taking place. Everyone is working in this direction, and this is cause for optimism. All that remains is implementation, so we are optimistic that it will be achieved soon,” Ali Nizar Faiq, director general of SOMO, told Rudaw.Oil companies operating in the Kurdistan Region are demanding a tripartite signed agreement that includes the federal oil ministry and the Kurdistan Region's natural resources ministry to guarantee the payment of their dues.Faiq stressed that SOMO is ready and “working to implement the agreed-upon terms” to resume the oil exports, stressing that the budget law and its amendments are the “strongest” guarantee for the payment of the companies’ dues. Oil exports from the Kurdistan Region through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline have been suspended since March 2023, when a Paris-based arbitration court ruled in favor of Baghdad against Ankara, saying the latter had violated a 1973 pipeline agreement by allowing Erbil to begin exporting oil independently in 2014.The suspension has incurred $28 billion in lost revenue so far, according to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).  (ICE AMMAN)

Fonte notizia: Stampa Locale