SOMO Deputy Confirms Continuity of Kurdistan Oil Exports, Targets 400,000 Barrels Daily

Peregraf- Hamdi Shingali, Deputy Director of Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO), said on Tuesday that oil exports from the Kurdistan Region will continue uninterrupted under the current agreement and are expected to steadily increase in the coming months. 

Speaking at a press conference in Erbil, Shingali stressed that the export arrangement between the federal government, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), and international oil companies will remain valid until December 31, 2025. He confirmed that the deal will be renewed beyond that date to guarantee continuity.

“I cannot say how many thousands of barrels of oil are exported daily. It will increase daily and hopefully reach 400,000 barrels,” Shingali told reporters. He added that the recent short suspension in pumping was not due to political issues, but simply because storage facilities were full. “There are no problems in the process of exporting oil from the Kurdistan Region,” he said.

His remarks come just days after Oil Minister Hayyan Abdul Ghani announced that more than one million barrels of crude from the Kurdistan Region have already been received by the federal government. The first tanker carrying Kurdish oil, with a capacity of 650,000 barrels, is currently being loaded at Turkey’s Ceyhan port. Abdul Ghani hailed the resumption of exports as “a great achievement” by both Baghdad and Erbil.

Exports from the Kurdistan Region restarted on September 27, 2025 following two years of suspension. The halt, which began in March 2023 after an arbitration ruling against Ankara, deprived the KRG of vital revenues and removed about 230,000 barrels per day from global markets. 

Under the new arrangement, crude from the Kurdistan Region—except for volumes reserved for local use—will be handed over to SOMO at Peshkhabour before being transported through the Iraq–Türkiye pipeline to Ceyhan. Revenues are directed into Iraq’s federal treasury, from which the KRG’s share is allocated to fund public sector salaries and other financial obligations. 

The deal also allows for cost recovery, allocating $16 per barrel for extraction and transportation, with oil companies compensated in crude rather than cash. SOMO will continue to pay transit fees, while Baghdad is negotiating with Ankara to renew the pipeline agreement set to expire in mid-2026.

Iraqi leaders have described the resumption as a turning point in relations between Baghdad and Erbil. Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani called it “an achievement 18 years in the making,” while KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani welcomed it as “a historic step” toward restoring financial stability and ensuring timely payment of salaries in the Kurdistan Region.