ERBIL: Iraq’s Kurdistan region said it exported an average of 577,621 barrels per day (bpd) of oil via pipeline to Turkey in May.
The autonomous region said it had supplied Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organisation (SOMO) with an average of 448,889 bpd of that crude over the same period.
A deal was reached last December whereby the Kurds agreed to export an average of 550,000 bpd via SOMO in 2015 in exchange for the reinstatement of budget payments from Baghdad, which slashed funding to the region last year.
The deal was hailed as a breakthrough, but it has come under strain, with both sides accusing each other of violating it.
The Kurds are threatening to bypass SOMO and export oil independently because Baghdad has failed to pay their monthly budget entitlement of 1.2 trillion Iraqi Dinars ($1.03 billion) in full.
In an interview broadcast on state television at the weekend, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said Baghdad could not be expected to pay that amount because the budget had been based on higher oil prices.
Fields operated by the region contributed 407,111 bpd on average in May, while fields operated by the North Oil Company (NOC) in Kirkuk contributed just 170,509 bpd.
In April, the region exported a slightly lower 562,633 bpd overall, but allocated a greater volume of that to SOMO.
Oil exports from Iraq rose to a record 3.145 million bpd in May, of which Baghdad said 451,000 bpd was sent by the Kurds.
