Adel Abdul-Mahdi, Oil minister of Iraq, has confirmed that what is produced by wells and fields of Kurdistan are exported through the federal government and SOMO. Under the conditions of an agreement, Baghdad and Kurdistan made a contract, which states that the Kurds are committed to export 550 thousand barrels per day on average from the Turkish port of Ceyhan via SOMO in 2015 in exchange for the resumption.
Iraqi oil minister also said, "Some of those who criticized the agreement with Kurdistan must review themselves after checking a lot of positive results.
Sometimes right decisions require actions against the tide and taking bold positions, the oil Minister added. We export today increasing oil production from the region through SOMO while Kirkuk fields resumed production and export back after its stop since March 2014 because of acts of terrorism and after the stop in production of Baiji refinery."
He also added, "Every paragraph is of the success factors, we are still facing some gaps that must be completed, as well as challenges in other things that we have not mentioned, all of that if we want the oil and gas industry to develop and build our refineries, labs, petrochemical, fertilizer to our farms, water resources, roads, contacts, our administrative and investment environment systems.”
In the month of January 2014, the federal government of Iraq has deducted the budget payments for Kurds, as the region was planning for exporting oil independently, which led to economic crisis in Kurdistan. The region was forced to borrow money from abroad.
Updated 09 May 2015 | Soruce: Kurdish Globe | By S.Seal