Iraqi-Turkish oil pipeline to resume operations on Wednesday
An oil facility belonging to the Turkish company BOTAS. Photo: Reuters
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Alparslan Bayraktar, confirmed on Thursday that the oil pipeline between northern Iraq and Turkey is ready to operate as of Wednesday and that Ankara is getting ready to start oil export operations through Ceyhan port on the Mediterranean.
Turkey had stopped oil flows through the pipeline in northern Iraq on March 25, after the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) ordered Ankara 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 Kurdistan Region of Iraq exported approximately 450,000 barrels of crude oil per day before the pipeline was closed.
Turkey began maintenance work on the pipeline, which, according to Turkish officials, passes through a seismically active area and was damaged by floods.
In a statement to NTV, Bayraktar explained that there are no obstacles now in terms of shipping oil produced in northern Iraq to global markets.
During his participation on Monday in the ADIPEC conference in Abu Dhabi, the Turkish Minister of Energy said that Turkey will resume operation of the pipeline transporting crude oil from Iraq this week.
The Turkish minister added that his country constitutes a dependable oil and gas transportation route.
An Iraqi official in the oil sector revealed on Tuesday that talks to resume oil exports from northern Iraq through the pipeline between Iraq and Turkey are still ongoing.