Iraq Pushes Türkiye Oil Route as Kurdistan Exports Fall Under War Pressure

By Bosphorus News Energy Desk

Iraq is moving to restore oil activity in the Kurdistan Region as war disruption around the Strait of Hormuz pushes Baghdad to rely more heavily on the northern export route through Türkiye.

Rudaw reported on 5 June that Kurdistan Region oil exports had fallen to about 20,000 barrels per day, below 9 percent of pre-war levels, with much of the remaining output now used for domestic consumption. The figure has not been confirmed in a fresh public statement by the Kurdistan Regional Government or Iraq's federal oil authorities, so it should be treated as a reported figure rather than an official export total.

The reported fall comes against a much higher official baseline. In August 2025, the Kurdistan Regional Government's Ministry of Natural Resources said Erbil and Baghdad had agreed on a mechanism that would allocate 50,000 barrels per day for domestic consumption in the Kurdistan Region, with the remaining production transferred to Iraq's State Organisation for Marketing of Oil, known as SOMO, for export. The same statement said the resumption of exports required the Federal Government of Iraq to coordinate with Türkiye and implement the agreed procedure.

KRG figures released in January 2026 showed that exports had resumed in late 2025 and that more than 19.5 million barrels had been exported through SOMO after the restart. That makes the current reported level politically and commercially significant, even without treating Rudaw's 20,000 barrel-per-day figure as an official number.

The wider pressure is coming from Iraq's southern route. Reuters reported on 16 May, citing Iraqi Oil Minister Basim Mohammed, that Iraq exported 10 million barrels of oil through the Strait of Hormuz in April, down from about 93 million barrels a month before the Iran war. Mohammed said Iraq was exporting 200,000 barrels per day through Türkiye's Ceyhan port and had a plan to raise that figure to 500,000 barrels per day.

The latest fall deepens a constraint Bosphorus News previously identified: Iraq's northern route through Türkiye has become strategically more important during the Hormuz crisis, but Kurdistan Region output remains far below the volume needed to turn Ceyhan into a full substitute for Gulf exports.

Baghdad is now trying to close that gap. The New Region reported, citing the Iraqi Prime Minister's Office, that Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi met a KRG delegation and representatives of oil companies on 3 June and directed companies operating in the Kurdistan Region to resume their activities. The meeting included Kurdistan Region Natural Resources Minister Kamal Mohammed, as well as Iraq's foreign minister, oil minister and army chief of staff.

Zaidi's office framed the move as a response to the damage caused by the suspension of oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz. The New Region quoted the premier's office as saying he directed the provision of requirements needed to secure company operations and address obstacles preventing higher production.

That gives the oil dispute a sharper wartime dimension. Erbil-Baghdad oil arrangements were already tied to revenue sharing, field operations and the legal handling of exports through SOMO. The Hormuz disruption has added a second layer: Iraq now needs northern production not only for internal fiscal management, but also to protect export capacity while tanker flows through the Gulf remain exposed.

Baghdad has also tested smaller westbound alternatives, including a Syria route toward Baniyas, but those movements remain limited by transport, storage and infrastructure constraints. For now, Ceyhan remains the more serious non-Gulf outlet in Iraq's crisis planning.

For Türkiye, the shift reinforces Ceyhan's role as a strategic energy exit point at a time when Ankara's wider supply debate is already being shaped by Iranian gas, liquefied natural gas growth, Russian contract extensions and Hormuz risk. As Bosphorus News has reported, the Iran war has widened Türkiye's energy security discussion beyond any single fuel or route.

The northern route's importance is therefore rising before its commercial capacity has been fully restored. Baghdad wants higher Ceyhan flows, Erbil needs stable production and payment arrangements, and Türkiye sits at the point where Iraq's export emergency meets the region's changing energy map.

***Sources: Rudaw, Kurdistan Regional Government Ministry of Natural Resources, Kurdistan Regional Government Department of Media and Information, Reuters, The New Region.