Oil in Global Economy series: Kurdish oil supplies rise from major drop in October as Kurdistan offers truce in exchange for 17 percent budget contribution

According to the latest data collected from Turkish Ceyhan oil port by tanker trackers, show that oil supplies from Kurdistan once again rising after a sharp drop in October over the conflict between Iraq and the autonomous region of Kurdistan. The oil supplies in late October declined to as low as 180,000 barrels per day as Iraq launched a military offensive to take back control of the disputed regions of Kirkuk, home to several key oil fields and K1 airbase.

Due to the drop, monthly supplies from Kurdistan averaged 0.345 million barrels per day, down from their usual 0.55 million barrels per day. A separate survey conducted by Reuters showed that oil supplies from OPEC declined 80,000 barrels per day in October, which means that without a draught in Kurdish supplies, OPEC production would have actually gone up by 0.125 million barrels per day in October. Now, the latest tanker trackers data show that supplies have recovered to 0.312 million barrels per day.

Meanwhile, Kurdistan has offered to hand over the oil wells, airports and all border revenues to the Iraqi government in exchange for a flat 17 percent constitutional budget share and other financial dues. However, as of latest, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has described the Kurdistan Regional Government's demand to receive 17 percent of the 2018 Iraqi budget as “unjust” while saying Erbil should receive a percentage of the budget that reflects its population compared to the rest of Iraq.