Ghaleb Muhammad, a former member of the House of Representatives, disclosed today that Turkey has been overseeing all the oil extraction and export operations in Kurdistan through Botash. He also revealed the appropriate procedures to resume exporting Kurdistan’s oil.
During an interview, Muhammad stated, “Turkey benefited greatly from the previous phase where oil exportation was done outside the central government’s supervision.” He further emphasized that “the government should engage in a constructive dialogue with the oil companies holding official contracts to resume oil exports from the region.”
“He said, “SOMO, the National Marketing Company, is not willing to resume oil exports due to the unrealistic figures mentioned in the contracts signed with the Kurdistan government. Iraq needs to re-evaluate its oil export plans and focus on storing oil through the port of Ceyhan.”
He said, “If the government and the Ministry of Oil fail to take these steps, the current situation will persist, and there will be no solution to resume exports.” He also mentioned that the Turkish company Botash, in cooperation with Kurdistan, had complete control over all extraction and export operations.
The Kurdistan Regional Government has been taking control of oil export revenues from international extraction and export companies. Additionally, there have been undisclosed agreements with Ankara to smuggle oil and sell it to unknown parties at prices lower than the international oil prices.
