Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has authorized the release of payments to international oil exporting companies in Iraq worth $75m for the third consecutive month, Zawya reported.

In September and October,  the KRG had allocated the same amount of revenue from its independent crude sales to cover costs for the companies that had gone unpaid for months.

“The amounts of monthly payments will improve when export increases or the oil prices recover from their present level”, an official source related to the Natural Resources Ministry said.

According to Bloomberg, Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd., Genel Energy Plc and DNO ASA are owed about $1.7 billion from past crude exports.

The announcement came after a ruling issued by a UK court ordering the KRG to pay $1.98b to Dana Gas in damages, which has raised concerns in the market.