Kurdistan Regional Government Ministry of Natural Resources Rejects Oil Smuggling Allegations

According to KurdPress, the Kurdistan Regional Government Ministry of Natural Resources, in response to the statements of Alaa Talabani, the Iraqi Prime Minister's Advisor on Women's Affairs, about the amount of oil production, smuggling, and revenues from the region, announced that 42 representatives of the Federal Ministry of Petroleum are monitoring the process of exporting oil from the region to Turkey, and any claim about oil smuggling must be accompanied by clear documents and evidence.The ministry said in a statement that the claims made about the region's oil production, oil exports, and oil companies operating in the region lack a credible basis and could damage the credibility of regional institutions, as well as trust in federal institutions and oil case management mechanisms. Regarding the claim of daily production of 650,000 barrels of oil in the Kurdistan Region, the Ministry of Natural Resources also announced that, based on data from the consulting firm Wood Mackenzie, the current level of regional oil production is about 255,000 barrels per day and it is predicted that this figure will reach about 308,000 barrels per day in the best case scenario by 2027; provided that international oil companies receive their financial and contractual rights, the necessary security conditions are in place, and there is the possibility of continuing investment in drilling new wells and developing fields.The ministry stressed that attributing specific figures to international institutions without these institutions having officially published or confirmed such data is misleading the public and presenting unconfirmed information as fact. The Ministry of Natural Resources also attributed the accusation of smuggling of the region’s oil to a lack of awareness of the export mechanism and monitoring processes, and announced that 42 representatives from the Iraqi Federal Ministry of Oil are monitoring the process of exporting the region’s oil to Turkey. The ministry added that any allegations of smuggling must be accompanied by clear and specific evidence. According to the statement, the oil export process is managed by the Northern Oil Company of Iraq in cooperation with the Iraqi Oil Marketing Company (SUMO), and the Federal Ministry of Oil, if it has real documents about smuggling, must clarify the details to the public and defend its export mechanisms and responsible employees.

Another part of the statement on oil revenues states that all income from the sale of oil exported by the Kurdistan Region through SUMO is deposited in the treasury of the Federal Ministry of Finance. Therefore, any claim of irregularities in oil revenues must be documented and the responsibility should be borne by the institutions that manage and supervise these financial resources.The Ministry of Natural Resources also rejected the accusation that oil companies operating in the region are affiliated with the ruling parties, saying that these companies are international companies registered in global markets and operate under regulations related to financial disclosure, auditing and anti-corruption.