The Iraqi government will pay all the oil exploration costs of foreign firms working in the Kurdish region, an official working in the Iraqi Oil Ministry has said, according to Reuters.

The State Oil Marketing Organisation (SOMO) will be responsible for the payments, to be made through the Kurdish Ministry of Natural Resources.

The government announced that it has agreed with Kurdish authorities to resume the export of oil from the region, up to 100,000 barrels a day, beginning February.