Iraq resumes Kurdistan oil exports via Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline

Iraq has resumed crude oil exports from its semiautonomous Kurdistan region through the Kirkuk Ceyhan pipeline after an interim agreement between Baghdad, Erbil and most foreign producers, the federal oil ministry said Saturday, ending more than two years of halted flows. Operations began at 6 a.m. local time, the ministry said, with initial shipments expected to reach Turkey's Ceyhan port within days.

The breakthrough follows a week of intensive talks. Oil officials told Reuters on Monday that a deal had been reached allowing roughly 230,000 barrels per day to be exported, and that technical procedures to prepare pipeline operations would begin within 48 hours pending Iraqi cabinet approval. Kurdish officials had also said exports could resume within 48 hours once a full agreement was in place. Several reports, and comments from the oil ministry on Saturday, put initial flows in a range between about 180,000 and 230,000 bpd, reflecting differing estimates from ministers and industry sources.

Under the interim arrangement, crude produced in Kurdistan except volumes reserved for local consumption will be handed to Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organization SOMO for centralized...