By Issa Chomani:

Washington, DC

Feb 27, 2026, marks Five months since the resumption of the Kurdistan Regional Government’s oil exports through the Iraq–Turkey pipeline. Iraq’s oil minister, Hayyan Abdul Ghani on Feb 25 said, “Kurdistan Region exports currently range between 200,000 and 210,000 barrels per day.” According to Iraq’s state oil marketing company, SOMO, over the first three months, the company exported about 19 million barrels of crude oil from the Kurdistan Region, confirming the continuation of oil deliveries under the existing agreement between Baghdad and Erbil, mediated by the United States. The agreement which was expiring on Dec 31, 2025, extended to March 30, 2026. According to Erbil and Baghdad officials as well international oil companies (IOCs), it may further extend until a consultant company is hired for a more accurate cost assessment in each oil field which is now $16 US dollars per barrel.

On September 27, 2025, Kurdish oil exports resumed to Turkey’s Ceyhan port after a temporary halt imposed by the Iraqi Federal Government (IG). This suspension followed a decision dated on March 25, 2023, by the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris, France, which decided in favor of the IG, indicating that Turkey had violated the ‘1973 treaty’ by permitting the Iraqi Kurdistan Region (IKR) to independently export its oil through Iraq–Turkey pipeline, and this is against the clauses of the treaty.

For more than two years, the international oil companies operating in the Kurdistan Region were unable to export the crude oil produced from the region’s oilfields. According to the Association of the Petroleum Industry of Kurdistan (APIKUR), which represents eight international oil companies in the IKR, these companies were producing 350,000 to 400,000 barrels per day (bbl/day) before the export halt.

It is worth mentioning that three of the international oil companies, including HKN, Hunt Oil, and WesternZagros, out of APIKUR’s eight members, are American oil and gas companies. The companies have been operating in the Kurdistan Region for over a decade. In the early 2000s, after the US-led military campaign in Iraq, some American hydrocarbon companies entered Kurdistan’s market to invest in the region’s oil sector. Notably, their involvement paved the way for other international oil companies to enter the region to invest in its oil sector.
In this paper, I shed light on the role of US diplomacy to facilitate the breakthrough that eventually led to the resumption of Kurdish oil exports through the Iraq–Turkey pipeline. Also, I argue that without the US pressure on Baghdad, the IG would not have reached an agreement to address the concerns of international oil companies (IOCs).

Many US oil companies operating and investing in the Kurdistan Region’s rich natural resources sector helped to have Congress and the Administration exert a clear pressure on Baghdad to reach an agreement with IOCs and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to resume the region’s 500,000 barrels of oil return to the global oil markets. It is clear that the US energy companies lobbied members of the Congress to encourage Washington to intervene directly with Baghdad and Erbil, with the hope that the US officials would utilize their power over the Iraqi government to push for compromise.

The United States officials have repeatedly encouraged American oil companies to invest in Iraq and Kurdistan Region’s energy sector to strengthen economic stability and support US’s energy policy to ensure a steady supply to global markets. Reportedly, the US companies have invested billions of dollars in Kurdistan’s oilfields. For the US government, while these companies make a significant financial gain, they reinforce both economic and mutual strategic interests.