Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani will lead a high-level delegation to Baghdad next week for government-to-government talks with Iraqi federal officials, according to Aziz Ahmed, Deputy Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister.

In a statement posted on X on Thursday, Ahmed said the visit will focus on strengthening cooperation between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the new Iraqi federal government led by Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi.

Ahmed said the KRG plans to present its experience with the 24-hour “Runaki” electricity programme and offer technical support and access to related technology to assist Iraq’s electricity sector reforms.

“We will offer the KRG’s unique experience with the 24-hour Runaki programme to the new federal government, including technical assistance and access to our technology to accelerate Prime Minister Al-Zaidi’s ambitions for electricity sector reform,” Ahmed wrote.

The upcoming discussions are also expected to address the resumption of oil production and exports in the Kurdistan Region.

According to Ahmed, Prime Minister Barzani will follow up on what he described as “security assurances” aimed at enabling international oil and gas companies operating in the Kurdistan Region to resume production activities and exports.

He said renewed exports from the Kurdistan Region could potentially increase Iraq’s overall oil export capacity by more than 500,000 barrels per day.

Ahmed also highlighted ongoing security concerns affecting energy operations, stating that companies could not be expected to fully resume activities “amid the threat of drones in the skies.”

Oil exports from the Kurdistan Region through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline have remained suspended since March 2023 following an international arbitration ruling and disputes between Baghdad, Erbil, and Ankara over export authority and payment mechanisms.