Ethiopia Acknowledges Int’l Pressure, Egypt’s Diplomatic Weight in GERD Dispute

This satellite image shows the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile river in the Benishangul-Gumuz region of Ethiopia on Tuesday, July 28, 2020. (Maxar Technologies via AP)
This satellite image shows the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile river in the Benishangul-Gumuz region of Ethiopia on Tuesday, July 28, 2020. (Maxar Technologies via AP)
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Ethiopia Acknowledges Int’l Pressure, Egypt’s Diplomatic Weight in GERD Dispute

This satellite image shows the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile river in the Benishangul-Gumuz region of Ethiopia on Tuesday, July 28, 2020. (Maxar Technologies via AP)
This satellite image shows the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile river in the Benishangul-Gumuz region of Ethiopia on Tuesday, July 28, 2020. (Maxar Technologies via AP)

Ethiopia acknowledged international pressures on it due to the dispute with Egypt over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

Director-General of Coordination of Public Participation to the GERD Construction Aregawi Berhe attributed the pressure to Cairo’s “far-reaching diplomatic influence.”

“Bolstering Ethiopian unity is very important in standing against the meddling of foreign forces in the country’s internal affairs and exploitation of its resources,” he stressed.

In statements carried by Ethiopia’s official news agency (ENA), he said that even though the Egyptians have not contributed a single drop in the Nile waters, they have controlled the diplomatic aspect of the dispute for years, while “we who own the resource languish in poverty.”

The time has come to reverse this equation, he urged.

Addis Ababa began constructing the 1.8-kilometer-long GERD in 2011 to generate power.

Cairo and Khartoum, however, continue to stress the need to reach a binding and comprehensive agreement that guarantees the rights and interests of the three countries, and include a mechanism for settling disputes on the filling and operation of the dam.

They fear the potential negative impact of the dam on the flow of their annual share of the Nile’s 55.5 billion cubic meters of water.

Cairo has recently intensified its diplomatic efforts, along with Khartoum, to prevent Addis Ababa from proceeding with the second filling of the dam’s reservoir.

Ethiopia rejects a Sudanese proposal, which Cairo backed, to form a quartet committee that includes the European Union, the United Nations, the United States and the African Union to mediate the GERD talks.

Meanwhile, it is seeking to mobilize internal support to confront any international pressure against it.

According to a member of the Ethiopian negotiating team, involving the quartet in GERD talks aims to delay the dam’s second filling process and undermine Ethiopia’s right to equitable and reasonable use of the Nile waters.

“The idea of quartet mediation is not a genuine proposal by Egypt and Sudan but rather a trap for their cynical goal,” ENA quoted Ambassador Ibrahim Idris as saying.



Iraq's Kurdish Oil Exports Restart is Not Imminent

An oil field in Iraqi Kurdistan. Photo: Kurdistan government media/AFP
An oil field in Iraqi Kurdistan. Photo: Kurdistan government media/AFP
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Iraq's Kurdish Oil Exports Restart is Not Imminent

An oil field in Iraqi Kurdistan. Photo: Kurdistan government media/AFP
An oil field in Iraqi Kurdistan. Photo: Kurdistan government media/AFP

A restart of Iraq's Kurdish oil exports is not imminent, sources close to the matter said on Friday, despite Iraq's federal government saying on Thursday that shipments would resume immediately.

Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government have been in negotiations since February to end a stand-off that has halted flows from the north of the country to Türkiye's port of Ceyhan. The KRG was producing about 435,000 barrels per day (bpd) before the pipeline closure in March 2023, Reuters reported.

On Thursday the federal government said that Iraqi Kurdistan would resume oil exports immediately through the pipeline to Türkiye's despite drone attacks that have shut down half of the region's output.

But on Friday a source at APIKUR, a group of oil companies working in Kurdistan, said that a restart depended on the receipt of written agreements. Another at KAR Group, which operates the pipeline, said that no preparations had been made for a restart.

Baghdad and the companies have not yet agreed how to restart the exports, a KRG government source said, while a source at Türkiye's Ceyhan said there was also no preparation at the terminal for a restart of flows.

On Thursday, a statement from KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said the government had approved a joint understanding with the federal government and it was awaiting financial details.

Similar agreements in the past failed to secure a resumption in exports and it remains unclear if this deal will succeed.

Oil companies working in Kurdistan have previously demanded that their production-sharing contracts should remain unchanged and their debts of nearly $1 billion be settled under any agreement.

Oilfields in Iraqi Kurdistan have been attacked by drones this week, with officials pointing to Iran-backed militias as the likely source of the attacks, although no group has claimed responsibility.

They are the first such attacks on oilfields in the region and coincide with the first attacks in seven months on shipping in the Red Sea by Iran-aligned Houthi militants in Yemen.

On Thursday a strike hit an oilfield operated by Norway's DNO in Tawke, the region's counter-terrorism service said.

It was the week's second strike on a site operated by DNO, which operates the Tawke and Peshkabour oilfields in the Zakho area that borders Türkiye.

No casualties have been reported, but oil output in the region has been cut by between 140,000 bpd and 150,000 bpd, two energy officials said.