Iran re-opens border to oil exports from KurdistanIran reopens border to KRG oil By Patrick Osgood of Iraq Oil Report Published Friday, August 1st, 2014 ERBIL - Iran’s customs authorities have lifted a ban on tanker trucks exporting oil and refined fuel from Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region. The re-opening of the border comes as a relief to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and its oil company partners, which have depended on Iran to facilitate as much as 80,000 barrels per day (bpd) of exports. Such oil sales have provided an essential revenue stream for the cash-strapped KRG, which is no longer receiving its monthly budget allotment from the Iraqi federal government amidst bitter political disputes. Exports to Iran have also been important for international oil companies invested in Kurdistan, which are yearning to establish reliable routes to market for their production. Iran closed its border to oil tankers from Kurdistan on June 10 without offering any public explanation. The border was reopened to oil tankers bearing Iraqi license plates on July 23, according to an oil trader who regularly ships cargos through Iran. Iranian-plated trucks have been allowed to cross since the start of the Eid al-Fitr holiday on the evening of July 28, he said. Many of the trucks are owned and driven by Iranians, due to a shortfall in the availability of tankers within Kurdistan, the trader said. The KRG also exports crude and liquid condensates by truck to Turkey. Once they enter Iran, crude oil and refined products from Kurdistan are mostly trucked to the Bandar Imam Khomeini terminal for transfer onto tankers bound for customers in the east, according to several traders and drivers. Some naphtha and other refined products that travel through the Haji Omran crossing are delivered to Afghanistan, according to truck drivers interviewed at the border. Fatih Ahmad, director of Parwezkhan border crossing in north Diyala province, near the KRG-controlled town of Khanaqin, confirmed that the border has re-opened, but insisted that only refined fuel and byproducts – naphtha and heavy fuel oil – are being trucked across the border. “This is not normal crude. It is the leftover of the KRG’s refineries that has been sold to Iran,” said Ahmad, stating 250 trucks are crossing through Parwezkhan per day. Trucks typically carry 150 to 200 barrels apiece. It seems likely, however, that at least some crude is again being trucked to Iran. A senior official involved in the KRG oil trade said that tankers from Qaiwan Group carrying crude have restarted crossing. Qaiwan is the largest of several companies that sell crude oil across the border, according to several industry sources and tanker drivers making the trip. It was not immediately clear how many trucks are traveling through the other KRG-Iran crossing points, at Haji Omran and Basmah.