RoydadNaft –  Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani said on Tuesday that foreign oil companies operating in the Kurdish region informed his government that if an agreement is reached on oil production costs and contracts, they will resume oil production within a month.

Turkey halted flows through Iraq’s northern oil export route after an arbitration ruling in March by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) ordered Ankara to pay Baghdad damages for unauthorised exports between 2014 and 2018.

Turkey’s energy minister said earlier this month that the pipeline is prepared for shipments to begin, but two senior Iraqi oil officials said at the time that Iraq has not received official notification from Turkey on whether the pipeline is ready.

But Sudani’s comments on Tuesday indicate that there are also disputes with the oil companies operating in Kurdistan over production cost and the contracts.