Iraq resumes Kurdish oil exports to Turkey after 2-1/2-year halt

Crude oil flowed on Saturday through a pipeline from the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region in northern Iraq to Turkey for the first time in two-and-a-half years, after an interim deal broke the deadlock, Iraq’s oil ministry said.
The resumption started at 6 a.m. local time (0300 GMT), according to a statement from the ministry.
“Operations started at a rapid pace and with complete smoothness without recording any significant technical problems,” the ministry said.
The agreement between Iraq’s federal government, the Kurdistan regional government (KRG) and foreign oil producers operating in the region will see 180,000 to 190,000 barrels per day of oil flow to Turkey’s Ceyhan, Iraq’s oil minister told Rudaw on Friday.
The U.S. had pushed for a restart, which is expected to eventually bring up to 230,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude back to international markets at a time when OPEC+ is boosting output to gain market share.