Northern exports flow under promising but fragile oil and budget agreement

Northern pipeline exports have been flowing for more than two months, after the Iraqi federal government, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), and international oil companies sealed a tripartite oil and budget deal.

According to shipping data obtained and analyzed by Iraq Oil Report, Iraq's oil marketing company, SOMO, sold 22 cargoes in October and November to six buyers, allowing 13.4 million barrels of Kurdistan-origin crude to reach international markets. The shipments include at least two cargoes for a subsidiary of the oil trader Vitol, whose payments are earmarked for compensating international oil companies (IOCs), according to industry officials familiar with the process.