LONDON- Iraq has restarted exports of Kirkuk oil, interrupted more than a year ago amid a standoff between the central government in Baghdad and Kurdistan's semi-autonomous region, industry sources said on Friday.
The development is a win for the U.S. government which has been putting pressure on both sides to settle the dispute and resume flows to help address a shortage of Iranian crude in the region after Washington imposed new sanctions on Tehran.
The flows resumed on Friday at a modest level of around 50,000-60,000 barrels per day versus peak levels of 300,000 observed during some months of 2017 and it was not clear when and by how much they will rise, sources said.
(Reporting by Dmitry Zhdannikov; editing by David Evans) ((Dmitri.Zhdannikov@thomsonreuters.com;))
