Iraq’s daily oil production reaches 4.23 million barrels
The Turkish port of Ceyhan. Photo: Reuters
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The Iraqi Minister of Oil, Hayan Abdul-Ghani, stated on Sunday that Iraq’s average oil production is 4.23 million barrels per day and its oil exports are 3.35 million barrels per day.
Abdul-Ghani mentioned that an agreement has not yet been reached with Turkey regarding the resumption of oil exports from the Kurdistan region of Iraq through the Turkish port of Ceyhan, according to Reuters.
Last March, Turkey halted oil flows after losing an arbitration case filed by Iraq. Baghdad considered oil exports from the Kurdistan region of Iraq through the Turkish port of Ceyhan illegal.
Iraq asked Turkey to resume oil exports in May after reaching an agreement with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) regarding oil sales and payments, but it is not clear yet when oil exports from northern Iraq will be resumed.
Two weeks ago, the Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Alparslan Bayraktar, revealed that maintenance work on the pipeline that extends from the Kurdistan region of Iraq to the Turkish port of Ceyhan is about to be completed.
Bayraktar told Turkish media that Turkey aims to operate the pipeline as soon as possible.
While Iraq is trying to reach an agreement with the Turkish side in order to resume exports, the losses in the Kurdistan region of Iraq since oil exports stopped about five months ago have reached $5 billion.
Abdul-Ghani and Bayraktar emphasized last month the need to resume crude oil flows after finishing the rehabilitation processes, which Turkey described as necessary after the earthquake that struck Turkey last February.