Baghdad announced that it will start exporting oil from the northern Kirkuk fields, which it recently recaptured from Kurdish forces, to the Islamic Republic of Iran, with a first delivery date scheduled before the end of January. Iraq’s Oil Minister Jabar Al-Luaibi, “As a first stage we are planning to export 30,000 (barrels per day of crude oil) and we will see how things go, God willing,” he said.
Exporting crude oil to Iran comes under a swap agreement that was announced last month by both Baghdad and Tehran to allow a resumption of oil exports from Kirkuk. Both countries have agreed to swap up to 60,000 barrels per day of crude produced from Kirkuk, in exchange for Iranian oil to be delivered to southern Iraq. Both countries also plan to build a pipeline to carry the oil and avoid having to truck the crude, which could effectively replace the existing export route from Kirkuk via Turkey and the Mediterranean Sea.