Iraq’s Ministry of Oil, the Kurdistan Region’s Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) and IOCs with operations in Kurdistan held tripartite discussions in Baghdad on 9 June in a bid to break the deadlock which has kept the northern crude oil export pipeline to Ceyhan, Turkey, shut since March last year (MEES, 31 March 2023).
The talks – the first since early January – were widely seen as a positive indicator for a potential restart of exports. Iraq’s Oil Minister Hayan Abdulghani told state Iraqia TV on 9 June that “progress” was made at the discussions as he raised the possibility of an understanding being reached in a matter of days. (CONTINUED - 864 WORDS)
