Iraq's oil ministry announced Saturday that procedures have been finalized to restart oil exports via pipeline from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to Turkey through the Ceyhan port.

In a statement, the ministry said it "confirmed that the procedures for resuming the export of oil produced in the Kurdistan Region from the Ceyhan port have been completed, within the framework of the production ceiling and budget law determined by Iraq's OPEC and the mechanisms foreseen in its annex."

The ministry urged KRG authorities to transfer crude oil extracted from the region's oil fields to the State Organization for Marketing of Oil (SOMO), facilitating exports through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline.

Exports from the pipeline have been halted for nearly two years following an International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) arbitration ruling that favored Iraq in a dispute over the KRG's independent oil exports.

Iraqi Oil Minister Hayan Abul-Ghani said earlier in the week that exports would resume next week, signaling improved relations between Baghdad and Irbil.

Turkey halted oil flows in March 2023 after the ICC ordered Ankara to pay Baghdad $1.5 billion in damages for unauthorized KRG exports between 2014 and 2018. Turkey, however, maintained that the ICC recognized many of its demands and said in October 2023, it was ready for operations, placing the onus on Iraq to resume flows.

Prior to Saturday’s announcement, a Turkish official said that Turkey had “not yet” received information from Iraq about a resumption.

Since the halt, the Iraqi federal government and the KRG have negotiated production and transport costs. Technical talks followed the oil minister's earlier statements to finalize details, including a payment mechanism acceptable to oil companies.

Abul-Ghani's announcement followed the Iraqi Parliament's Feb. 2 approval of a budget amendment setting a $16 per barrel rate for oil transport and production costs in the KRG. The amendment also requires the KRG to transfer its oil output to SOMO.

The oil ministry's Saturday statement reiterated the request for the KRG to begin delivering crude to SOMO to facilitate the export resumption.