Turkish delegation visits Iraq to resume oil exports from northern Iraq
The Kar Refinery in Erbil, the Kurdistan region of Iraq. Photo: AFP
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – Officials in the oil sector said that a Turkish delegation in the energy sector met with Iraqi officials in the oil sector in Baghdad on Monday to discuss the resumption of oil exports from northern Iraq, Reuters reported.
The Undersecretary of the Iraqi Oil Minister, Basim Mohammed Khudair, told Reuters last Thursday that the two parties agree that it is necessary to resume oil exports as soon as possible, and Iraq is ready to pump 500,000 barrels per day of oil in case both parties agree on the resumption of oil exports.
Turkey halted exports of 450,000 barrels per day from northern Iraq through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline on March 25 after the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) issued its ruling in an arbitration case.
The ICC obliged Turkey to pay Baghdad $1.5 billion in compensation for damages caused by the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) export of oil without permission from the federal government in Baghdad between 2014 and 2018.
The 80-day halt of oil exports from the Kurdistan region of Iraq cost the KRG more than $2 billion, according to Reuters.
The crude oil pipeline extends from the Kurdistan region in northern Iraq to the Turkish port of Ceyhan.
The KRG began exporting crude oil independently in 2013, a step Baghdad considered illegal.
Attempts to resume oil exports from Iraqi Kurdistan were delayed because of the Turkish presidential elections and discussions between the State Organization for Marketing of Oil (SOMO) and the KRG over an oil export deal.