Oil Firms in Iraqi Kurdistan would Sell Crude via Baghdad

By John Lee.

An industry group representing international oil companies (IOCs) in Iraqi Kurdistan has said that its members would agree to direct sales agreements with the State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO), which is controlled by Baghdad's Ministry of Oil.

A statement from the Association of the Petroleum Industry of Kurdistan (APIKUR) on Friday, issued on X, said:

"APIKUR member companies agree with the statement made by KRG in their recent Council of Ministers meeting that direct sales agreements between Int'l Oil Companies and SOMO offer the best option for resolving the current situation - those agreements should provide the IOCs with surety for payment through upfront payment, escrow arrangements, or payments in-kind at Ceyhan."

The statement follows a long-running dispute between the parties concerning the right to export crude oil from the Kurdistan Region independently of the Ministry of Oil in Baghdad.

APIKUR member companies are DNO, Genel Energy, Gulf Keystone Petroleum (GKP), HKN Energy, Hunt Oil, Kalegran, ShaMaran Petroleum and WesternZagros.

(Source: @apikur_oil)