According to a report released on Saturday by S&P Global, oil producers in the Kurdistan Region have discovered a new market for their crude oil, where selling prices are significantly lower than those of the international market.
According to the report, which was translated by, “sales to local traders range from $28 to $40 per barrel in a mysterious process controlled by Kurdish officials, where local refineries process the crude oil – primarily turning it into gasoline and diesel.” This statement was made in the report.
He continued, “Refineries in Kurdistan have a collective production and refining capacity of 330,000 barrels per day, and hundreds of small, illegal refineries process a small amount of crude.” On August 4, local authorities announced that 138 illegal refineries had been shut down and that dozens of unlicensed refineries had been given the order to comply with environmental protection regulations or face closure.
The report stated, “The federal government may not gain much from reopening the pipeline, and the pipeline is now at the center of a long political and legal battle that shows no signs of abating.” In point of fact, OPEC+’s compliance with the production ceiling would be further hampered if Kurdish crude oil exports were fully restored.
