*

Flows start smoothly and rapidly, Iraq's oil ministry says

*

Iraq's OPEC delegate says country can export more than its

current quantity

*

Resumption allows 180,000-190,000 bpd of crude to flow

(Adds statements from Iraqi official in paragraphs 8-9)

By Muayad Hameed and Maha El Dahan

Sept 27 (Reuters) - Crude oil flowed on Saturday through

a pipeline from the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region in northern

Iraq to Turkey for the first time in 2-1/2 years, after an

interim deal broke a deadlock, Iraq's oil ministry said.

The resumption started at 6 a.m. local time (0300 GMT),

according to a statement from the ministry.

"Operations started at a rapid pace and with complete

smoothness without recording any significant technical

problems," the ministry said.

The agreement between Iraq's federal government, the

Kurdistan regional government (KRG) and foreign oil producers

operating in the region will allow 180,000 to 190,000 barrels

per day of crude to flow to Turkey's Ceyhan port, Iraq's oil

minister told Kurdish broadcaster Rudaw on Friday.

US PRESSURE TO RESUME KURDISH FLOWS

The U.S. had pushed for a restart, which is expected to

eventually bring up to 230,000 bpd of crude back to

international markets at a time when OPEC+ is boosting output to

gain market share.

Iraq's delegate to the Organization of the Petroleum

Exporting Countries, Mohammed al-Najjar, said his country can

export more than it is now after the resumption of flows via the

Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline, in addition to other planned projects at

Basra port, state news agency INA reported on Saturday.

"OPEC member states have the right to demand an increase in

their (production) shares especially if they have projects that

led to an increase in production capacity," he said.

Iraq's oil ministry undersecretary Bassem Mohamed told

Reuters that the resumption of Kurdish oil flows will help raise

the country's exports to nearly 3.6 million bpd in the coming

days.

Iraq's production and export levels will remain within its

OPEC quota of 4.2 million bpd, he said.

Iraq, the group's largest overproducer, was among states

that submitted updated plans to OPEC in April to make further

oil output cuts to compensate for pumping above agreed quotas.

Flows through the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline were halted in

March 2023 when the International Chamber of Commerce ordered

Turkey to pay Iraq $1.5 billion in damages for unauthorised

exports by the Kurdish regional authorities.

Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar also confirmed

the resumption of oil exports to Turkey from Iraq in a post on

X.

SETTLING OUTSTANDING DEBTS

The preliminary plan, agreed last Wednesday, calls for the

KRG to commit to delivering at least 230,000 bpd to Iraq's state

oil marketer SOMO, while keeping an additional 50,000 bpd for

local use, according to Iraqi officials with knowledge of the

agreement.

An independent trader will handle sales from the Turkish

port of Ceyhan using SOMO's official prices.

For each barrel sold, $16 is to be transferred to an escrow

account and distributed proportionally to producers, with the

rest of the revenue going to SOMO, the officials said.

Norway's DNO said it had no immediate plans to

export through the pipeline but that its local buyers could

still ship its crude through it. The company and its

joint-venture partner Genel Energy ( GEGYF ) have said the issue

of Kurdistan's around $1 billion in arrears to producers, of

which DNO is owed about $300 million, needs to be addressed.

The eight oil companies that signed the deal and the KRG

have agreed to meet within 30 days of exports resuming to work

on a mechanism for settling the outstanding debts.

(Reporting by Muayad Hameed and Maha El Dahan, additional

reporting by Jaidaa Taha and Menna Alaa El Din; Writing by

Yousef Saba; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Emelia

Sithole-Matarise)