Baghdad and Ankara have agreed to restart oil exports from the Kurdistan Region via a pipeline after a freeze of more than two years, Deputy Parliament Speaker Shakhwan Abdullah has said.

Abdullah told local reporters on Sunday that Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organisation (SOMO) reached a deal with Turkish companies to resume flows, while the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) finalised a parallel revenue-sharing agreement with Baghdad covering oil and non-oil income.

He urged the Iraqi government to fulfill its “legal and moral obligations,” including the immediate release of overdue Kurdish public sector salaries for July and August.

Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) lawmaker Mahma Khalil told Shafaq News last week that a Kurdish delegation is preparing to visit Baghdad to complete technical arrangements for exports via the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline.

KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani has consistently maintained that Erbil does not oppose restarting exports. While SOMO Director Ali Nizar noted the final decision lies with producing companies, he confirmed SOMO’s readiness to market Kurdish oil once negotiations conclude.

(Writing by N. Saeed; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@lseg.com)

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