Oil exports from the Kurdistan Region have fallen dramatically amid escalating regional tensions and the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz, severely affecting Iraq's energy sector.

A senior official at Iraq's State Organization for Marketing of Oil (SOMO) told Kurdistan24 on Wednesday that oil production and exports from the Kurdistan Region have dropped from approximately 230,000 barrels per day (bpd) to just 20,000 bpd.

According to the official, attacks targeting oil fields, coupled with growing regional instability, have significantly disrupted production across the Kurdistan Region. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has further compounded the crisis, directly impacting both Iraqi and Kurdish oil production and export operations.

Despite the disruption, the agreement permitting crude oil exports through the pipeline connecting the Kurdistan Region and Kirkuk to Türkiye's Ceyhan port remains in force. However, export volumes have declined sharply due to the ongoing regional crisis.

The SOMO official said Iraq exported 42 million barrels of crude oil in July, including seven million barrels transported through the Kurdistan Region's pipeline to the Turkish port of Ceyhan.

During the same period, Iraq's average daily oil production reached 1.95 million barrels, although pipeline exports have reportedly fallen to 60,000 barrels per day as a result of the continuing instability.

The official added that oil production in the Kurdistan Region has suffered one of the steepest declines, falling by more than 90 percent—from 230,000 barrels per day to only 20,000 barrels per day.