The Ministry of Natural Resources of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) affirmed Saturday commitment to protect the safety and security of all oil facilities and workers in Iraq's northern semi-autonomous region.
The Ministry is in contact with the KRG security forces regarding the deterioration of security on the Region's borders and it continues to share all relevant information with its contractors, according to a KRG statement.
Until now, the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, has not been able to target oil operations in the region, but as a precautionary measure, some of the exploration activities in areas abutting potential combat zones have been temporarily halted and staff relocated.
However, oil production in the region remains unaffected, and is being delivered to both the domestic and export markets. "Indeed, the KRG is expecting that the producing companies will ramp up production in the coming weeks as ongoing export infrastructure improvements come online as planned," the statement pointed out.
"The producing companies continue to receive their share of production and revenue from all the domestic uses of the oil, and they have been advised to also work on the export sales for their share of the exported oil.
"The Ministry continues oil exports from Kirkuk oilfields, north Iraq, to Ceyhan port, south Turkey, and welcomes the support and investment of the oil companies in Kurdistan Region," the statement added.