Iraq’s oil ministry has announced the resumption of oil exports from northern Iraq’s semi-autonomous northern Kurdish region

U.S. President Donald Trump's administration is piling pressure on Iraq to allow Kurdish oil exports to restart or face sanctions alongside Iran, eight sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

Iraq plans to resume exporting 185,000 barrels per day from Kurdistan's oilfields via the Iraq-Turkey pipeline. A total of 300,000 bpd is available for export, with the rest used domestically. The resumption follows completed procedures to end a long-standing dispute and pending Turkish confirmation.

Iraq is awaiting a response from Turkey “within the next 24 hours” regarding the readiness of the pipeline designated for the Kurdistan Region’s oil exports, an official from Iraq’s oil ministry said on Sunday.

Oil exports from the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region will resume next week, Iraq's oil minister said on Monday, resolving a near two-year dispute as ties between Baghdad and Erbil improve, potentially adding more supply to the oil market and weighing on prices.

Kurdistan is set to resume oil exports by the end of March following a two-year halt due to a dispute with the Iraqi government.

A speedy resumption of exports from Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region would help to offset a potential fall in Iranian oil exports, which Washington has pledged to cut to zero as part of Trump's "maximum pressure" campaign against Tehran.

Iraqi authorities have rejected reports that they have allowed a resumption of oil exports from the Kurdistan region because of threats by the US government.

The president of Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region signaled the likely resumption of oil exports next month, the latest optimism that an almost two-year shutdown that cost the nation some $19 billion in lost revenue could soon be over.