Iraqi authorities are exploring alternative routes to export oil after transit through the Strait of Hormuz was disrupted by the Middle East war, an oil ministry spokesperson told AFP Tuesday.
Saheb Bazoun said that "much like other countries in the region, oil production and marketing have been severely impacted, leaving the government no choice but to seek alternative" export routes.
Iraq has several oil shipments stuck at sea, he said.
Iraq is a founding member of the OPEC cartel, and crude oil sales make up 90 percent of the country's budget revenues.
Before the war, it was exporting more than 3.5 million barrels per day.
The Strait of Hormuz remains closed to almost all oil tankers, and Iran has vowed that not one litre of oil would be exported from the Gulf while its war with the United States and Israel continues.
Iraq's oil production and exports have sharply decreased, Bazoun said.
Iraqi authorities are considering several options for exports, including a pipeline which runs thought Iraq's northern Kurdistan region to the port of Ceyhan in Türkiye.
They are also considering transporting oil by land, but many plans will require time to be implemented, according to Bazoun.
A senior official in Iraq's Kurdistan region told AFP talks are underway to facilitate oil exports from federal Iraq.
He said that Baghdad had requested to "export 200,000 bpd" via the Ceyhan pipeline, which has a capacity of 700,000 bpd.
But regional authorities asked for several measures in return, including that Baghdad facilitates the region's access to US dollars through banks.
"We have made it clear to Baghdad that the relief on dollars should happen first," the Kurdish official said, claiming that there is a "100 percent dollar embargo on Kurdistan."
Since the start of the year, Iraq has been dealing with a US dollar liquidity shortage that has affected many sectors across the country.
Oil production has also been disrupted in the Kurdistan region since foreign oil companies have halted production as a precautionary measure since the start of the war.
