Talks to resume Kurdish oil exports postponed to Thursday after financial disputes

By Ahmed Rasheed, Maha El Dahan and Nerijus Adomaitis

BAGHDAD/DUBAI (Reuters) - Talks to speed a resumption in oil exports from Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region have been delayed until Thursday because of disagreements over terms between oil companies and the oil ministry, three sources told Reuters.

The meeting had been scheduled for Tuesday but initial talks on Sunday ended without agreement on key issues including how foreign companies operating in the region would be paid, forcing the two-day postponement.

The meeting was called after repeated statements by Iraqi oil minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani and his government said that the Iraq-Turkey pipeline, which has been shut for two years, would resume exports soon. 

But the Association of the Petroleum Industry of Kurdistan (APIKUR), which groups eight companies representing 60% of production from the region, said last Friday that there had been no formal approach offering any clarity on commercial agreements and guarantees of payment for past and future exports. 

Iraq has come under U.S. pressure to allow Kurdish oil exports via Turkey, thereby boosting supply to the global market at a time when Washington wants to reduce Iranian oil exports as part of efforts to curb Iran's nuclear programme.

Seven sources told Reuters a meeting had taken place on Sunday with no agreement made and that one of the main sticking points had been written guarantees on payment for past and future exports. 

An Iraqi oil ministry source said that oil companies had demanded clarification on how debts accumulated between 2022 and 2023 would be repaid but were told that the meeting was held to discuss future exports and not past payments.  

Other sticking points included pricing and payment mechanisms, the sources said. 

The Sunday meeting, which took place at the oil ministry headquarters in Baghdad, included the international oil companies operating in Kurdistan and Kurdish regional energy officials. 

Oil companies and the Kurdish officials will confer with the Kurdistan Regional Government before relaying their final position to Baghdad, said one Kurdish official briefed about the meeting. 

Another key lingering issue is companies seeking guarantees over their contracts, the seven sources said. 

Reuters reported last week that the Iraqi government had made a fresh attempt to deem all Kurdish production-sharing oil contracts illegal through filings to a Baghdad court. 

(Reporting by Ahmed Rasheed in Baghdad, Maha El Dahan in Dubai, Nerijus Adomaitis in Oslo and Anna Hirtenstein in London; Editing by David Goodman)