BAGHDAD, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi federal government reached initial agreement with the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region to resume crude oil exports of Kirkuk oilfield, the Iraqi government said on Friday.

Iraqi Oil Ministry's Spokesman Asim Jihad said that "50,000 to 100,000 oil barrels per day will be exported through Kurdistan's pipeline to Turkey."

"The Iraqi oil marketing company (SOMO) will be in charge of the export and marketing of this quantity," Jihad said without giving further details.

The export of Kirkuk oil to Turkey was halted in October, 2017 when the Iraqi forces took control of the oil-rich province of Kirkuk after the Kurdish region held a controversial referendum on independence of Kurdistan and disputed areas.

Iraq's economy relies heavily on oil, which generates over 90 percent of its revenues.

Early in 2017, it was announced that Iraq's proven oil reserves had increased to 153 billion barrels from the previous estimate of 143 billion barrels.