U.S. President Donald Trump's administration is piling pressure on Iraq to allow Kurdish oil exports to restart or face sanctions alongside Iran, eight sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

Iraq’s oil minister said he’s hoping crude oil exports from the country’s northern Kurdistan region will restart in two days after it was halted almost two years ago following a payments dispute.

Iraq reiterated on Monday its commitment to an OPEC+ agreement on production cuts and the gradual phase-out of voluntary reductions, ahead of the resumption of oil exports from the Kurdistan Region.

The Oil Ministry contacted the Turkish side for information about the Iraq-Turkey oil pipeline to resume Iraqi Kurdistan's oil exports.

Flows of crude oil through a pipeline from the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region in northern Iraq to Turkey could restart soon after an almost two-year shutdown.

Iraq’s oil ministry repeated that it’s ready to restart exports from the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan via a pipeline to Turkey that’s been shut for almost two years.

Iraqi crude is expected to start flowing to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan, after the Baghdad government said it was awaiting approval from Ankara to restart shipments. Baghdad has earmarked 185,000 barrels per day for export through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline from oilfileds in the semi-autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan region.

Iraq’s oil ministry has announced the resumption of oil exports from northern Iraq’s semi-autonomous northern Kurdish region