The Iraqi government has sold one million barrels of oil from the Kurdistan Region for $65 million, averaging $65 per barrel.

Context: at present, Iraq’s SOMO exports around 150,000 barrels of KRG oil per day, generating approximately $300 million in monthly revenue. However, $16 per barrel is paid to international oil companies (IOCs) as production costs, leaving a net return of about $220 million, equivalent to roughly 290 billion Iraqi dinars.

Analysis: even if exports rise to 200,000 barrels per day as production capacity expands, the net revenue would only increase to around $294 million (about 388 billion dinars) after accounting for the same $16 per barrel production cost paid to IOCs operating in the Region. While this figure is significantly higher than the $30–33 per barrel previously earned from domestic sales before exports resumed, it remains far below the monthly funding required to cover the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) public-sector salaries—without even considering other government expenses.

The KRG’s total monthly salary expenditure stands at roughly 960 billion dinars. In addition to oil revenues, the Region also contributes around 120 billion dinars in non-oil income to Baghdad. Combining this with the current oil revenue of 290 billion dinars brings the total monthly transfer from KRG-related sources to about 410 billion dinars—assuming no other deductions or expenses from oil. This means that, despite the resumption of exports and the higher non-oil contributions (the largest transfers the KRG has made to Baghdad so far), the federal government still needs to provide roughly 550 billion dinars each month to cover salaries alone.

If the KRG’s oil exports increase to 200,000 barrels per day, total revenue would rise to around 388 billion dinars. When added to the 120 billion in non-oil income, the total transfer to Baghdad would reach approximately 508 billion dinars—still leaving a shortfall of around 450 billion dinars for salaries every month.