US Ambassador meets with Iraqi Oil Minister - Important Article
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani will meet with U.S. President Joe Biden in Washington on April 15.
Sudani will visit the U.S. capital for the first time, although he did visit New York for the opening of the U.N. General Assembly last September, where he met Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Blinken told the Prime Minister that President Biden invited him to visit the White House soon, according to the U.S. readout.
Kurdish oil exports, previously exported through a pipeline to Ceyhan, Turkey, on the Mediterranean coast, will be a major item on the U.S. agenda.
Ankara was banned from exporting Kurdish oil a year ago, in March 2023, after Iraq won an international court ruling.
That pipeline remains closed a year later. As soon as Sudani's visit was announced, oil companies operating in the Kurdistan Region, known as APIKUR (Association of the Petroleum Industry of Kurdistan), called on the U.S. Congress in late January to help “persuade the Federal Government of Iraq (GOI) to promptly resolve the issues that have resulted in the halt of over 400,000 barrels of crude oil exported to global markets from the KRI [Kurdistan Region of Iraq] to global markets.”
Kurdistan-based oil companies appeal to Congress to help resume oil exports/
Congress is pressing the Biden administration on this issue.
Congressmen call for Baghdad's mistreatment of Kurdish allies to stop as Sudani prepares to visit Washington
Alina Romanowski, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, met with Hayan Abdelghanii, the Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister and Oil Minister, on Tuesday, April 2, 2024, to discuss the issue.
I discussed Iraq's energy independence with @HAbdalghanii @iqministryofoil in preparation for PM Sudani's visit to the US," she tweeted.
"Iraq can achieve energy autonomy by leveraging oil and gas from the Iraqi Kurdistan Region," she tweeted.
Consequently, the U.S. regularly offers Iraq sanctions waivers so that it can import electricity from Iran. If Iraq gained energy independence, the entire process would be unnecessary.
The U.S. officials with whom Fuad Hussein met last week urged an improvement in relations with Erbil, including a renewal of Kurdish oil exports.
The U.S. Encourages Better Ties Between Baghdad and Erbil, including KRG Oil Exports.
State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller confirmed that the U.S. has been engaged at the highest levels on this issue, "and we have urged all parties to reach an agreement to resume oil flow through this pipeline."
Miller said, "We believe that restarting oil exports through the pipeline would benefit all parties, and for that reason, we will continue to pursue it."
It remains to be seen how effective Washington will be in securing Baghdad's cooperation.
