BAGHDAD, March 18 (Xinhua) -- Iraq's Oil Ministry announced on Wednesday the resumption of crude oil exports from Iraq's northern Kirkuk oil fields to the Turkish port of Ceyhan, ending a suspension that had constrained the country's energy transit capabilities.

A ministry statement said that Iraq's North Oil Company has commenced operations at the Saralo pumping station, signaling the resumption of Kirkuk oil exports to Ceyhan with an initial capacity of 250,000 barrels per day.

This operational breakthrough follows an agreement between Iraq's federal government and Kurdistan Region Government (KRG), contributing to the reactivation of one of the most prominent strategic export outlets and enhancing the flexibility of Iraq's oil export system, it said.

"Given the extraordinary circumstances facing the country, and the responsibility we all share to get through this difficult chapter, we have decided to allow oil to flow through the Kurdistan Region's pipeline as soon as possible," Masrour Barzani, prime minister of the KRG, said on social media platform X. ■