September 26, 2025 [Argus Media]- Crude exports through the Iraq–Turkey pipeline are set to resume tomorrow, 27 September, after Iraq’s federal government finalized a deal with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to end a two-and-a-half-year halt in flows. Key Kurdish producer DNO will not participate directly in the restart but said its oil will still enter the pipeline via third-party arrangements.
Iraqi prime minister Mohammed al-Sudani announced the agreement in a post on X, calling it “historic” and confirming that the federal oil ministry will receive crude produced in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region for export. The pipeline, which previously carried 400,000–450,000 b/d of medium sour Kirkuk crude to Turkey’s Ceyhan port, was shut in March 2023 following an arbitration ruling against Ankara.
DNO, operator of the 80,000 b/d Tawke license in Kurdistan, said it has been instructed to prepare for exports to begin on 27 September. While it will not engage directly in the restart, the company said it will deliver the KRG’s share of Tawke output — around 38,000 b/d — for export. It will continue selling its own share locally at prices in the low $30s/bl, and said buyers have arranged to place that oil into the pipeline independently.
The restart date aligns with a social media post by the KRG yesterday, which said flows would resume in “48 hours”.
The deal includes a compensation mechanism for participating producers, amounting to $14/bl after transport costs, according to DNO. The first payment is expected in mid-December, with terms subject to review in 2026 by a Baghdad-appointed consultant.
“Maybe looking back we will have left some money on the table, maybe not,” said DNO executive chairman Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani. “But surely we will generate significantly greater value from the investments we are making not just for us, but for all Iraqis.”
DNO has launched a major expansion at the Tawke and Peshkabir fields, targeting 100,000 b/d in 2026. “We can only support such an ambitious program with immediate, predictable and continuous flow of funds,” Rahmani said.
The agreement follows months of stalled negotiations and multiple announcements that flows were about to resume — none of which materialised. But the talks gathered momentum this week. On 23 September, Iraq’s federal oil marketing firm Somo said a deal was close. The following day, a group of international oil companies announced they had reached an interim agreement with Baghdad and Erbil. DNO and its partner Genel Energy declined to join, citing the need for “payment surety for both past arrears and future exports”.
According to the IOCs’ statement, the Kurdish authorities and participating firms plan to meet within 30 days of the restart to “work towards creating a mechanism for settling the outstanding debts owed to IOCs”.
