Baghdad to Export Kirkuk Oil to Iran Before End of January: Minister

Baghdad to Export Kirkuk Oil to Iran Before End of January: Minister.

BAGHDAD — Iraqi Oil Minister Jabar al-Luaibi revealed on Sunday that his country will start exporting oil from the Kurdish province of Kirkuk to neighbouring Iran before the end of January.

Speaking to reporters in Baghdad, Luaibi said that nearly 30,000 barrels per day of crude is planned to be trucked to the refineries in Iran’s western province of Kermanshah.

'‘God willing, we will start before the end of the month,” the minister stated.

The plan comes after the Iraqi army together with the Iranian-backed militias of Hashd al-Shaabi overrun Kirkuk and other disputed Kurdish territories in northern Iraq, pushing back the Kurdish Peshmerga forces and taking over the oil fields.

Baghdad and Tehran announced the Kirkuk oil agreement last month.

Minister Luaibi also said that they are planning the establishment of a pipeline to export Kirkuk oil to Iran in hopes of boosting the flow of crude.

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