SULAIMANI, Kurdistan Region — The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has reduced its oil production by 50%, bringing output down to 140,000 barrels per day (bpd) as of September 2, 2024. The move follows a request from the Iraqi government to comply with OPEC guidelines, according to Kamal Muhammed, the KRG’s acting Minister of Natural Resources, who announced the decision at an energy conference in Istanbul.
This reduction is part of Iraq’s broader efforts to meet OPEC+ production quotas, which aim to stabilize global oil markets. On August 22, Iraq’s Ministry of Oil reaffirmed its commitment to these cuts.
A Bloomberg report confirmed that the KRG cut its production in response to Baghdad’s request, while simultaneously calling for the resumption of oil exports via the Turkey pipeline, which has been suspended since March 2023 due to an International Court of Arbitration ruling.
Despite producing 280,000 bpd—far surpassing the 46,000 bpd set for domestic consumption under the Erbil-Baghdad agreement—the KRG’s compliance is critical to Iraq’s adherence to OPEC limits.
US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Jeffrey Piatt recently noted that the region’s oil production has nearly returned to pre-suspension levels of 400,000 bpd. However, since the export suspension, both the KRG and Iraq have faced estimated financial losses of $20 billion, according to the Association of the Petroleum Industry of Kurdistan (APIKUR).
In early September, Iraq reduced its oil exports to 3.3 million bpd to align with OPEC+ efforts, following the coalition’s decision to extend production cuts through November 2024. Iraqi MP Mustafa Sanad estimated that Iraq loses $3 billion annually due to these cuts, while unauthorized Kurdish oil exports add another $6 billion in losses.
APIKUR, on September 22, urged the resumption of Kurdistan’s oil exports via the Iraq-Turkey Pipeline (ITP), stressing that production is crucial for Iraq to meet its 2027 target of 6 million bpd.
Despite the pipeline suspension, the KRG continues to export 200,000 barrels of oil per day to Iran and Turkey by tanker, according to Reuters.