Reuters: Iraq agrees to export oil from Kirkuk and Kurdish region via Turkey

Iraq's government reached a formal agreement on Dec. 2 with Kurdish regional authorities to end a protracted dispute over oil exports and budget payments to the semi-autonomous Kurdish region.

Finance Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said the two sides had agreed to the export of 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil from Kirkuk and 250,000 bpd from the northern Kurdish region through Turkey.

Describing the deal as a win-win accord for the central government and Kurdish Regional Government (KRG), Zebari said it would help increase Iraq's oil exports at a time when its  budget was strained by low oil prices and the war against Islamic State militants who control much of the country.

Zebari, a Kurd who is part of the Baghdad government, said oil from both areas would run through a Kurdish Regional Government's (KRG) pipeline to Turkey.

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