Kirkuk
Northern Iraqi city and oilfield region; source of medium sour Kirkuk crude grade.
Last refreshed: 8 June 2026
Can Kirkuk's northern oilfields compensate for Iraq's collapsed southern exports?
Timeline for Kirkuk
Iraq ramps Ceyhan pipeline toward 770kbd
European Oil Markets- Where is Kirkuk and why is it important for Iraqi oil?
- Kirkuk is a city and oilfield region in northern Iraq, roughly 250km north of Baghdad. It hosts one of the Middle East's oldest and largest oilfields, discovered in 1927, and produces medium sour Kirkuk crude that is exported via the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline to Turkey.Source: GeoExpro / Wikipedia
- Who controls the Kirkuk oilfields, Iraq or the Kurds?
- Kirkuk oilfields are officially under Baghdad's federal control following the 2017 expulsion of Kurdish Peshmerga and the 2023 arbitration ruling confirming that Turkey unlawfully permitted KRG oil exports without Baghdad's consent. The KRG still contests the city's political status.Source: Wikipedia / The National
- What type of crude oil does the Kirkuk oilfield produce?
- Kirkuk produces a medium sour crude grade, typically around 35-36° API gravity with approximately 2% sulphur content. It is not as light as Brent but suits a wide range of Mediterranean and European refinery configurations.Source: Argus Media / Oxford Energy
- How much oil does Kirkuk produce per day?
- Kirkuk field production peaked at over 1 million Barrels Per Day in the 1970s but declined sharply through under-investment and conflict. In the early 2020s, output from northern fields was estimated at 300-400kbd, with the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline being ramped toward 770kbd in mid-2026 as southern Iraqi exports collapsed.Source: GeoExpro / The National
Background
Kirkuk is a city and governorate in northern Iraq whose subsurface has been described as a silent giant: the Kirkuk oilfield, discovered in 1927, is one of the oldest and most prolific in the Middle East, with estimated recoverable reserves of around 9 billion barrels. The field produces a medium sour crude grade (roughly 35-36° API, ~2% sulphur) known simply as Kirkuk crude, which is the feedstock flowing through the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline to Turkey's Mediterranean coast. Production peaked at over 1 million Barrels Per Day in the 1970s and declined significantly through decades of under-investment, sanctions and conflict; output in the early 2020s was estimated at around 300-400kbd from the northern fields.
Kirkuk sits at the intersection of three competing jurisdictions: the Iraqi federal government in Baghdad, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) based in Erbil, and the city's own demographically mixed population of Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen. Control of the city and its oilfields has been contested since the 2003 US invasion and became a flashpoint in 2017 when federal forces expelled Kurdish Peshmerga following the KRG independence referendum. The 2023 international arbitration ruling that Turkey had unlawfully permitted KRG oil exports without Baghdad's consent temporarily resolved the export-rights dispute in Baghdad's favour and set the stage for the 2026 Ceyhan ramp.
In the context of the 2026 Hormuz blockade, Kirkuk's northern fields are one of the few Iraqi production centres able to export without Hormuz exposure. The ramp of the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline from 220kbd toward 770kbd is both a commercial necessity and a federal consolidation of control, with Baghdad's North Oil Company directing throughput via the Saralo pumping station.
