ERBIL,— Foreign oil companies have started gradually resuming operations in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region after suspending activity amid the Middle East war, a regional government spokesperson said Wednesday, AFP reported.

The Kurdistan Region, which hosts U.S. troops and several foreign oil companies, was repeatedly hit during the conflict by drone attacks carried out mainly by Tehran-backed Iraqi Shiite armed groups. Several oil fields were struck, and many operations were shut down.

Regional authority spokesperson Peshawa Hawramani said Gulf Keystone Petroleum, a subsidiary of Britain’s Gulf Keystone, has begun production at the Shaikan field, one of the largest in the region.

He said Norway’s DNO is set to restart work at the Tawke and Peshkabir fields on Friday, while U.S. company HKN will resume output at the Atrush field on Sunday. Hunt Oil, based in the United States, is scheduled to restart operations on July 8.

Hawramani said the delays in restarting production resulted from substantial damage caused by earlier attacks on oil facilities.

Iraq, a founding member of OPEC, depends heavily on oil exports, which account for about 90% of government revenue.

Before the Middle East war began on February 28, 2026, about 3.5 million barrels per day in output under normal conditions was exported through the Strait of Hormuz.

The conflict and Iran’s blockade of the waterway disrupted shipments and forced production cuts.

Following a recent agreement between Washington and Tehran to end fighting, Iraq hopes to return to previous production levels within two months.

Officials said the region aims to stabilize output after disruptions caused by the war and earlier attacks on facilities oil facilities in region.

(With files from AFP)

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ANKARA,— Turkey is not prepared to extend the current Iraq’s Kirkuk-Ceyhan oil pipeline agreement under existing terms, a senior Turkish official said after Iraq requested that the arrangement remain in place for at least another year while negotiations continue, Reuters reported.

The Turkey-Iraq Crude Oil Pipeline Agreement, which has governed exports through the pipeline for decades, is scheduled to expire on July 27.

Officials from Baghdad and Ankara are continuing discussions on a proposed replacement agreement.

Responding to Iraq’s request, the Turkish official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said there was no reason to prolong an agreement that had already become the subject of arbitration proceedings.

The Ceyhan terminal remains an important route for Iraqi crude exports.

Its significance has increased as Iraq’s primary export facility in Basra has been affected by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz following U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran in late February.

Turkey announced last year that the existing pipeline accord would end and sought to negotiate a new arrangement with revised conditions.

Among the proposals put forward by Ankara were measures designed to ensure fuller use of the pipeline and potential projects, including extending the line farther south within Iraq.

The pipeline had been inactive for two and a half years after an arbitration court ordered Ankara to pay $1.5 billion in damages linked to unauthorized Iraqi oil exports received by Turkey between 2014 and 2018. Oil flows resumed late last year.

A separate arbitration case covering the period from 2018 onward remains ongoing. In addition, an award enforcement case is currently being heard in a U.S. court.

Although the pipeline can transport nearly 1.5 million barrels of oil per day, security concerns and other factors have kept operations well below that level.

Reuters reviewed shipping data showing exports from Kirkuk to Turkey averaged 177,000 barrels per day in April.

(With files from Reuters)

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BAGHDAD,— Iraq has asked Turkey to extend the Kirkuk-Ceyhan oil pipeline agreement by at least one year to allow more time for negotiations on a new deal, according to Ali Nizar, head of Iraq’s state oil marketing company SOMO, as stated on the firm’s official website.

Nizar said the Iraqi government submitted the request to Ankara to keep the key export route operating while both sides work on a replacement agreement.

The existing Turkey-Iraq Crude Oil Pipeline Agreement, which controls exports through the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline, is set to expire July 27.

Baghdad and Ankara are still working on a new draft deal.

Nizar added that Iraq has shipped 12 million barrels of crude oil from its southern ports since the beginning of June.

(With files from Reuters)

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SULAIMANI,— A gas facility in Iraqi Kurdistan has resumed operations after more than a month of disruption caused by the US-Iran war, the Emirati company running the complex said Monday.

Dana Gas said production at the Khor Mor gas facility in Iraqi Kurdistan had restarted “following a period of intermittent operations,” in a statement published by the Abu Dhabi stock exchange.

The UAE company halted natural gas supplies from the complex on February 28, 2026 as war broke out, authorities in Iraqi Kurdistan said at the time.

The electricity and natural resources ministries of Iraqi Kurdistan said the shutdown was ordered “due to the extraordinary circumstances and ongoing events in the region, and to protect employees at the Khor Mor field.”

Khor Mor supplies most of Iraqi Kurdistan’s power stations. The facility has been struck several times in recent years in attacks blamed on pro-Iran armed groups operating in Iraq.

(With files from AFP)

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ERBIL,— A drone strike sparked a large fire at storage facilities owned by an engine oil company in Iraq’s Kurdistan region on Wednesday, officials and the firm said.

Iraq has been increasingly drawn into the war launched by Israel and the United States on February 28, with strikes hitting U.S. interests and Iran aligned groups inside the country.

The Kurdistan region in the north has also faced repeated attacks.

Erbil, the regional capital, hosts a major U.S. consulate complex, and its airport contains military advisers from a U.S. led coalition fighting jihadist groups.

Erbil governor Omed Khoshnaw said the attack began at about 0700 local time, when four drones targeted the site.

He said a double strike occurred, adding that while response teams were still working, another drone hit the same location.

A fourth drone was intercepted in midair before reaching its target, Khoshnaw said, noting the fire was still burning.

The Iraqi Sardar Group confirmed the strike on a warehouse about five kilometers from Erbil.

Company official Dashty Bilbas said the facility belonged to British oil firm Castrol, which operates in the region with Sardar Group as a local partner.

The company said no casualties were reported.

It added it has no role in the Middle East conflict and focuses on services and investment, including storage of lubricants for vehicles, farming equipment, and construction.

The strike came after a night of heavy attacks near the city, with about 20 drones shot down over Erbil, Khoshnaw said.

Authorities said investigations were ongoing to determine responsibility for the attack and assess damage at the facility and surrounding area.

(With files from AFP | Agencies)

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Iraq resumes crude exports via the Kurdistan region pipeline on Wednesday

BAGHDAD,— Iraq’s federal government and the Kurdish authority in Erbil, which still calls itself and acts as the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), have agreed to restart oil exports to Turkey’s Ceyhan energy hub, with shipments set to resume on Wednesday, Iraq’s oil minister said.

State media, citing Oil Minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani, reported that flows through the pipeline are scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. local time, or 0700 GMT.

The caretaker KRG authorities in Erbil confirmed the deal in a statement.

They said both sides would create a joint committee to prepare the technical and administrative steps needed to resume exports through the regional pipeline network. Revenue from the shipments will be transferred to Iraq’s federal treasury.

The KRG added that Baghdad and Erbil also agreed to adopt security measures to protect oilfields and maintain stable export operations.

The outgoing KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said in a post on X that the region would allow crude exports through the Kurdistan pipeline as soon as possible due to what he described as exceptional conditions facing the country.

He said talks with Baghdad would continue to remove restrictions on imports and trade affecting the region. He also said efforts were under way to provide guarantees to oil and gas companies so they can safely restart production.

Barzani later wrote that he had spoken by phone with U.S. envoy Tom Barrack.

During the call, he instructed officials in the Erbil Authority to provide all necessary support to restart exports, saying the move was in the interest of citizens given the current situation.

The latest agreement follows days of disagreement between Baghdad and Kurdish authorities over responsibility for halted exports.

Iraq resumed oil exports on Wednesday through a pipeline in the Kurdistan Region to Turkey after a halt of nearly three years, Iraqi oil officials said, marking a key step for the country’s energy sector as the war involving Iran has halted shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.

Amer Khalil, director general of the state-run North Oil Company, said the process restarted early in the day. Oil began flowing from the Sarlo station in Kirkuk to the Turkish port of Ceyhan at 6:30 a.m., he said.

Khalil said exports are set at 250,000 barrels per day, restoring a significant volume of crude to global markets following the disruption in the Strait of Hormuz.

On Sunday, Kurdish officials said the federal government had failed to resolve key security and economic issues affecting the oil sector. They rejected claims that they were blocking crude exports through the regional pipeline.

Their statement came after Iraq’s oil ministry accused the Erbil Authority of refusing to allow the use of a pipeline as an alternative route for crude flows disrupted by the conflict involving Iran.

The ministry said Kurdish authorities had imposed conditions it described as arbitrary.

Earlier on Tuesday, Iraq’s presidency called on both sides to work together to restore exports, according to an official statement.

Parliament also addressed the issue during a session focused on shipments through the Ceyhan pipeline. State news agency reports said lawmakers issued a seven point decision urging the federal government to secure export outlets to prevent economic losses under current security conditions.

The measures appeared aimed at strengthening Baghdad’s control over the oil sector. They followed a late meeting on Tuesday between lawmakers and the oil minister to review the impact of suspended exports after the Strait of Hormuz was closed.

In a statement, parliament said it was ready to approve any steps needed to support restoring exports. It also called on the federal government to maintain authority over oil production, transport and distribution across the country.

Lawmakers urged officials to supply fuel oil to both state and private factories to avoid rising stockpiles at refineries. They also called for repairs to the pipeline route linking Kirkuk with western Mosul, Zummar and Fishkhabour, extending toward Ceyhan.

Production in Iraq’s southern oilfields has fallen sharply, sources told Reuters on March 8. Output dropped by about 70 percent to around 1.3 million barrels per day after the Iran conflict led to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for global oil supplies.

Earlier this month, the oil ministry sent a letter to the Erbil Authority requesting approval to transport at least 100,000 barrels per day from Kirkuk fields through the Kurdistan pipeline system to Ceyhan, two oil officials told Reuters.

Kurdish officials say tensions with Baghdad have increased following the introduction of a new electronic customs system by the federal government.

The system allows authorities to track imports and revenue, which the KRG views as limiting its autonomy and control over trade.

Oil prices dropped more than $2 per barrel on Wednesday, giving back some of Tuesday’s sharp gains, after Iraq and Kurdish authorities agreed to resume exports through Turkey’s Ceyhan port, easing concerns about Middle East supply disruptions.

Nearly two years have passed since the elections in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, yet no new government has been formed.

The parliament, once intended to represent the will of the people, now appears to be a dead institution that has completely lost its function.

The Barzanis still present themselves as leaders despite the absence of a functioning government.

The Barzani clan, which rules the Kurdistan Region, has turned control of the region’s oil sector into a family enterprise, drawing widespread criticism for prioritizing private profit over the public good.

(With files from Reuters)

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BAGHDAD,— Iraq plans to resume oil exports from the Kirkuk fields to Turkey within a week through a federal pipeline that bypasses the Kurdistan Region, the country’s oil minister said on Monday, the state-run Iraqi News Agency reported.

Oil Minister Hayan Abdel Ghani said the shipments will move directly from Kirkuk to Turkey once final technical work on the pipeline is completed.

The minister said the Iraqi-Turkish pipeline used to move Kirkuk crude is now in its last stage of testing. The line has the capacity to carry between 200,000 and 250,000 barrels of oil per day.

Ghani said about 100 kilometers of the pipeline still require hydrostatic testing. Once the process is finished, oil from the Kirkuk fields will be pumped directly into the system without passing through the Kurdistan Region.

The minister was referring to the 48-inch Baiji–Fishkhabour pipeline. The route can handle exports of up to one million barrels per day.

The pipeline has been out of service since 2014 after suffering heavy damage during the expansion of the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, which seized large parts of northern Iraq at the time.

The line runs through Salahaddin and Kirkuk provinces before reaching the border area of Fishkhabour. From there it links with Turkey’s section of the Iraq-Turkey Pipeline.

The announcement comes during rising tensions between Baghdad and the Kurdish authority that calls itself the Kurdistan Regional Government, or KRG.

The dispute has grown in recent days over Baghdad’s request to export oil through the Kurdistan Region’s pipeline network to Turkey. The disagreement is also tied to long-running financial disputes and security concerns in the Region.

Earlier, Baghdad accused officials in Erbil of rejecting a request to export as much as 300,000 barrels of oil per day through the pipeline. The proposed shipments would have been in addition to roughly 200,000 barrels per day produced in the Kurdistan Region.

Observers say the Barzani clan has turned control of the Kurdistan Region’s oil sector into a family enterprise, drawing widespread criticism for prioritizing private profit over the public good.

The Kurdistan Regional Government’s Ministry of Natural Resources rejected Baghdad’s accusations on Sunday. The ministry said Iraq’s federal oil ministry was misrepresenting the situation regarding crude shipments sent through the Region’s pipeline network to Turkey’s Ceyhan port.

Kurdish officials also said Baghdad continues to impose what they described as a suffocating embargo on the Kurdistan Region. The ministry added that federal authorities have not taken action against attacks by Iran-aligned armed groups in Iraq targeting energy infrastructure in the Region.

The dispute has intensified as oil exports from the Kurdistan Region have mostly stopped following repeated drone and missile attacks on energy facilities.

Those attacks have been blamed on armed groups aligned with Iran inside Iraq. The groups say the strikes are connected to tensions involving Tehran, Washington and Tel Aviv.

Ghani said Iraq’s crude oil output currently stands at about 4.4 million barrels per day, matching the country’s quota set by OPEC.

However, he said military operations in the Gulf and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz forced Iraq to halt oil exports days after war began in the region.

The minister said production has since dropped to between 1.5 million and 1.6 million barrels per day to supply domestic refineries and power stations.

Despite the suspension of exports and the resulting loss of revenue, Ghani said oil and gas products are still meeting local demand.

He added that Iraq is studying the option of moving about 200,000 barrels per day by tanker trucks, mainly through Jordan and Syria.

Iraq’s economy generates over 90 percent of its revenue from oil exports.

Experts warn that without oil income the government, which is the country’s largest employer, could struggle to pay salaries to civil servants and may face a shortage of foreign currency needed for imports and exchange rate stability.

(With files from INA | AFP | Rudaw)

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OSLO/DUBAI,— Norway’s DNO and UAE-based Dana Gas have halted oil and gas production at fields in Iraq’s Kurdistan region as a safety step after the United States and Israel carried out strikes on neighboring Iran.

The decision follows earlier security incidents in the Kurdish region.

In 2025, facilities at the Tawke oilfield and the Khorm Mor gas field were attacked.

At the time, an Iraqi government source said that pro-Iranian Shiite militias were suspected of being behind the attacks.

DNO Executive Chairman Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani said the company had temporarily stopped operations and relocated staff to secure locations.

He told Reuters the move was taken as a precaution. He also said the company had been preparing for the possibility of military activity in the region’s airspace over the past few weeks.

DNO and its partner Genel Energy produced more than 77,000 barrels of oil per day in the fourth quarter of 2025 from the Tawke and Peshkabir fields.

Both fields are located near the border with Turkey.

A source at Dana Gas told Reuters that output at the Khorm Mor gas field was also suspended on Saturday as a precautionary measure.

Oil exports from the Kurdistan region of Iraq averaged 200,000 barrels per day in February.

Iraqi Kurdistan’s counter-terrorism service said U.S.-led coalition forces intercepted several rockets and drones over Erbil on Saturday, the Iraqi News Agency reported.

Security officials told Reuters that the projectiles were aimed at U.S. forces stationed near Erbil airport.

(With files from Reuters)

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BAGHDAD,— Iraq’s state oil marketing company SOMO said on Sunday that international oil producers operating in Kurdistan are still required to deliver their crude oil to the company under an export agreement reached in September, according to a statement issued by SOMO.

The statement came after comments made by Norway’s DNO, the largest foreign oil producer working in Kurdistan.

DNO said earlier that it would not take part in the September agreement and would instead continue selling crude directly to the Kurdistan region. The remarks were reported by Reuters.

According to SOMO, the September agreement was reached between Iraq’s oil ministry, the Kurdistan ministry of natural resources, and companies producing oil in the region.

Under the deal, SOMO is responsible for exporting crude produced from oil fields in Kurdistan through the Iraq Turkey pipeline.

At the time the agreement was announced, DNO publicly welcomed the arrangement but chose not to sign it.

The company said it needed clearer terms on how unpaid financial obligations would be settled.

DNO also said it had no immediate plans to ship oil through the Iraq Turkey pipeline and would continue sales directly within the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region.

SOMO said on Sunday that the Kurdistan ministry of natural resources has confirmed again its adherence to the September deal.

According to SOMO, the ministry stated that all international companies involved in exploration and production in Kurdistan’s oil fields must hand over the crude oil they produce to SOMO.

The only exception, SOMO said, applies to volumes set aside for local consumption inside the region.

The company said the agreement remains valid and binding for all producers active in the region.

Crude oil exports from Iraq’s Kurdistan region restarted on September 27, 2025 following a halt of more than two years, under a agreement involving the federal government in Baghdad, the caretaker Kurdistan Regional Government, and international oil companies.

(With files from Reuters)

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SULAIMANI,— Large amounts of waste oil have been illegally dumped in a dry stream near Dukan Lake and Dam in Sulaimani governorate, raising concerns over potential contamination of the lake’s water supply.

Environmentalists warn that the spill could threaten drinking water for more than two million people who rely on Dukan Lake.

Witnesses in the area reported seeing tankers carrying oil spill their contents in the stream. The vehicles were reportedly registered in cities across the Kurdistan Region, and locals said the oil likely came from regional oil fields.

Environmental experts described the dumping as a serious environmental hazard. “We believe that a company, a factory, or an oil refinery may be behind this,” said a local environmentalist, calling the incident a disaster for the region.

The forest police confirmed that the spilled substance is waste oil, a heavy and hazardous material. Multiple tankers were observed discharging the waste, although authorities have not yet identified the responsible party.

Activists warned that rainfall could carry the oil into the Dukan Dam, threatening aquatic life and the local drinking water supply.

Residents in the surrounding area say that although Kurdistan authorities have been informed, no immediate steps have been taken to contain the spill and prevent it from reaching the lake.

The spill site is located roughly three kilometers from the Dukan reservoir, with contamination stretching over 500 meters along the valley.

As of Tuesday, cleanup efforts had not yet begun, but local environments said a decision had been made to deploy teams to remove the oil.

Environmental activists highlighted the broader risks. They say this is not just about drinking water but also poses a danger to livestock, crops, and wildlife in the area.

Dukan Dam, which holds more than 50 million cubic meters of water, is a key resource for the region. It supports fish populations and attracts tourists.

Authorities have also been carrying out environmental initiatives to maintain fish populations, releasing 250,000 fingerlings in August and 70,000 fish in September to replenish the lake’s ecosystem.

Environmental groups continue to monitor the situation closely as they prepare cleanup plans and investigate who is responsible for the dumping.

The question now is when the Kurdistan Region authorities will begin the cleanup, which will require significant time and expense. Time is critical, as the rainy season is already underway.

(Credit: NRT | 964 Media | Agencies)

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