Ongoing talks to resume oil exports through Turkey

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – 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.

The statements of the Iraqi official took place a day after Turkey announced that it would resume operation of the pipeline transporting crude oil from Iraq this week after a suspension lasted for about six months, according to Reuters.

The Iraqi official, who requested to remain anonymous, explained that further meetings will be held soon and things will be clearer regarding Turkey’s seriousness to show some flexibility towards the outstanding issues.

During his participation in the ADIPEC conference in Abu Dhabi, the Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Alparslan Bayraktar, said on Monday that Turkey will resume operation of the pipeline transporting crude oil from Iraq this week.

The Iraqi authorities have not issued any comments regarding this development.

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.

Turkey began maintenance work on the pipeline, which, according to Turkish officials, passes through a seismically active area and was damaged by floods.

The Kurdistan Region of Iraq exported approximately 450,000 barrels of crude oil per day before the pipeline was closed.

Sources told Reuters that the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, may visit Baghdad in October to settle the issue.

In April, Iraq submitted a petition to a US federal court to implement the decision issued by the ICC.

The sources added that the lack of a solution to this issue was one of the reasons for postponing Erdogan’s visit to Iraq, which was scheduled for August.