KRG Ministry of Natural Resources

Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq - In August, 2015, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) continued its direct oil sales in Ceyhan to compensate the Region for the budget shortfalls from the federal government in Baghdad and to continue to pay down debts accumulated in 2014 from pre-payments for direct oil sales.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) exported 14,657,798 barrels of crude oil (an average of 472,832 barrels per day (bpd)) in the month of August through the Kurdistan pipeline network to the port of Ceyhan in Turkey.

Of this amount, fields operated by the KRG contributed 10,958,817 barrels (353,510 bpd on average), while fields operated by the North Oil Company (NOC) contributed 3,698,981 barrels (an average of 119,322 bpd). In August, the KRG supplied SOMO in Ceyhan with 1,579,004 barrels (average of 50,936 bpd).  

Due to circumstances beyond the KRG’s control, during August there were 9 days of downtime for the export pipeline, which mostly occurred at the beginning of the month. This was due to sabotage and theft on the pipeline in Turkey.

In June 2015, the KRG exported 17,130,639 barrels of crude oil (an average of 571,021 barrels per day). In July, the KRG exported 16,019,090 barrels of crude oil (an average of 516,745 barrels per day). However, in August, total KRG export had fallen to 14,657,798 barrels (average of 472,832 bpd), a decline caused by the sabotage and theft inside Turkey.

These recent attacks on the pipeline in Turkey combined with the global fall in the oil price have added to the economic crisis faced by the KRG and have severely impaired its ability to pay government salaries, fund the fight against IS terrorism and help provide for the Region’s 1.8 million refugees and internally displaced people.

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