Ankara to re-operate Iraqi-Turkish oil pipeline this week
Ceyhan petroleum operations field. Photo: BOTAS
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – 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 after a suspension lasted for about six months.
“During this week, we will start operating the Iraqi-Turkish pipeline, and it will be able to transport approximately half a million barrels of oil to global markets,” Bayraktar stated during his participation in the ADIPEC conference in Abu Dhabi.
The Turkish minister added that his country constitutes a dependable oil and gas transportation route.
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.