House Votes on Iran War Powers, Iraq Revives Kurdistan Oil

The U.S. House of Representatives voted 215-208 on Wednesday to direct President Donald Trump to withdraw U.S. forces from hostilities with Iran, according to OilPrice.com. The resolution, invoking the 1973 War Powers Act, gives Trump 30 days to comply unless he challenges it, which the White House has signaled it will do.

The vote represents the most significant congressional pushback on Operation Epic Fury since the war began Feb. 28, with four Republicans crossing the aisle to support it. The conflict has now stretched past 95 days, and Iran has largely kept the Strait of Hormuz disrupted for the duration, according to OilPrice.com. The strait carries roughly 20% of the world's oil supply.

The economic toll, including U.S. gas prices averaging close to $5 per gallon nationwide, has become a central argument for critics. Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser warned earlier this month that if the strait stays blocked beyond mid-June, oil market normalization could stretch into 2027, OilPrice.com reported.

In response to the prolonged Strait of Hormuz closure, Iraq is scrambling to revive alternative export routes. Prime Minister Ali Falih Al-Zaidi has directed oil companies operating in Kurdistan to resume operations beginning Thursday, June 4, according to OilPrice.com. Iraq plans to triple within three months its pipeline exports of crude oil through Kurdistan to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan to 770,000 barrels per day, up from about 220,000 bpd now.

Norway-based DNO, a top international producer in Kurdistan, halted operations when the war began but restarted field operations and a drilling campaign after an early-April ceasefire, OilPrice.com reported. The move aims to offset significant losses from disrupted exports via Basrah and the Strait of Hormuz.

Meanwhile, India's Nayara Energy has completed a planned turnaround of its 400,000-barrels-per-day refinery at Vadinar, according to OilPrice.com. The refiner, which processes Russian oil, could boost fuel supply to the Indian market in the coming weeks. Analysts have slashed estimates of India's oil demand growth this year, with consumption uptick expected to be the weakest since the Covid pandemic due to the supply crunch and higher fuel prices.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the House Foreign Affairs Committee hours before the vote that "Epic Fury is over" and Washington had achieved its objectives, specifically the degradation of Iran's ability to project large-scale missile and drone power, OilPrice.com reported.