ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq's Oil Minister confirmed on Monday that the Iraq-Turkey pipeline, designated for the resumption of the Kurdistan Region’s oil exports through Turkey's Ceyhan port, is ready to use.
Hayyan Abdul Ghani told Iraqi state media that his ministry is engaged in “ongoing discussions and correspondence with Turkey to resume exports, and once we receive approval from Turkey, the export will resume.”
He expressed hope that “exports will resume within the next two days” after the resolution of “some technical issues.”
On Sunday, Mohammed Khudair, the Iraqi oil ministry’s undersecretary, stated that Iraq is awaiting a response from Turkey “within the next 24 hours” regarding the readiness of the pipeline for exports through Ceyhan port.
Khudair’s remarks came shortly after the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) announced an agreement with Baghdad to restart oil exports from the Kurdistan Region.
Oil exports from the Kurdistan Region through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline were suspended in March 2023 after a Paris-based arbitration court ruled in favor of Baghdad against Ankara, stating that the latter had violated a 1973 pipeline agreement by allowing Erbil to begin independent oil exports in 2014.
Before the suspension, Erbil was exporting approximately 400,000 barrels of oil per day through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline, in addition to 75,000 barrels per day from Kirkuk.
Abdul Ghani also confirmed on Monday that “the agreed-upon quantity for export through the Kurdistan Region,” ranges “between 300,000 to 325,000 barrels per day, with part of it allocated for domestic consumption and the rest for export.
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