The KRG depends on oil revenue to fund its government.

KRG resumes oil exports to Ceyhan

ERBIL, September 28, 2015 – Oil is once again flowing to Ceyhan through the pipeline connecting the Kurdistan region of Iraq to Turkey, read a statement released on Friday from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), after it had been temporarily shut down due to an oil theft.

The pipeline had been attacked in Turkey near Urfa on Friday. No repair crews were on duty, as it was the first day of the Islamic holiday Eid Al Adha. It is not known who was responsible for the attack or exactly how much was taken.

The Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline is the main source of income for the KRG, and it uses the oil revenue to pay its Peshmerga fighters as well as its government ministers. The KRG’s oil ministry estimates it has lost about $500 million in revenue from the beginning of July to the mid-August.

“Persistent theft from the Iraq-Turkey crude oil pipeline in the southeast of Turkey continues to damage the welfare of the people of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq at a critical time for their security and stability,” read a statement from the KRG’s oil ministry. “These treacherous acts of theft and sabotage harm the ability of Kurds across the region to fight Islamic State terrorism.”

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