Iraqi Court Orders KRG To Hand Over All Oil Revenues

The Federal Supreme Court of Iraq has ordered the KRG to hand over all oil and non-oil revenues to the federal government in a ruling on 21 February, according to S&P Commodity Insights, which is likely another roadblock in the restart of northern Iraqi exports via the pipeline to Turkey.

• Oil companies operating in the region have been pushing the federal government to honor the production sharing contracts they previously signed with the KRG but the federal government said these contracts are invalid as federal marketer SOMO has full control over Kurdish oil exports since a Supreme court ruling in 2022.
• In June last year, the Iraqi parliament passed a budget law that obliges the KRG to export up to 400kbpd through SOMO to receive 12.6% from the Iraqi budget.
• Iraq’s Crude oil exports from the northern region via a pipeline to the Turkish port of Ceyhan have been halted since late-March 2023.
• While Turkey informed Iraq that the pipeline has been prepared for restart in October, following an earthquake earlier in the year, the federal government, the KRG and international oil companies have so far failed to find an agreement on compensation for the oil companies.
• The leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan told Argus in mid February a restart of crude exports from the northern fields will not happen anytime soon.