US President Donald Trump's administration is pressuring Iraq to allow Kurdish oil exports to restart to help offset a potential fall in Iranian oil exports, Reuters reported citing eight sources with direct knowledge of the matter.
Trump this month reinstated the so-called "maximum pressure" campaign on Iran from his first term, with the stated aim of driving its oil sales to zero.
Iraq’s oil minister announced on Monday that exports from the Kurdistan region would resume next week.
Sources cited by Reuters said Trump’s administration was a key driver behind the announcement.
Reuters cited two US administration officials confirming that the US had asked the Iraqi government to resume Kurdish exports. One of them said the move would help dampen upward pressure on oil prices, the report added.
"It's not only important for regional security that our Kurdish partners be allowed to export their own oil but also help keep the price of gas low," Reuters cited a White House official as saying.
Iran has been a major recipient of cut-price Kurdish oil. Last July, a Reuters report detailed how the closure of the pipeline transporting Kurdish crude to Turkey in 2023 led to an increase in oil smuggling to Iran, with an estimated 200,000 barrels per day being transported by truck.
In December 2024, Reuters also reported on a fuel oil smuggling network generating at least $1 billion annually for Iran and its proxies, which had flourished in Iraq since Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani took office in 2022.
The US aims to cut this supply route as part of Trump's maximum pressure campaign, the report said.
"Washington is pressuring Baghdad to ensure Kurdish crude is exported to global markets through Turkey rather than being sold cheaply to Iran," Reuters cited an Iraqi oil official with knowledge of the crude trucking shipments crossing to Iran as saying.
Turkey’s Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar told Reuters that Turkey has not yet received any official notification from Iraq regarding the resumption of oil flows.
