Baghdad declared force majeure on foreign-operated oil fields after disruptions to maritime shipping via the Strait of Hormuz forced Iraq to cut oil production, Reuters reported on March 21.

Baghdad reached a March 17 agreement with the Kurdistan Regional Government to allow exports from Kirkuk oil fields to Ceyhan port in Turkey. However, the agreement would only initially facilitate around 250,000 barrels of oil per day, a fraction of Iraq's prewar levels of around 3.5 million barrels per day, most of which were exported from southern terminals and through the Strait of Hormuz.