Oil exports from northern Iraq to be resumed soon
Oil tanks at Turkey’s Mediterranean port of Ceyhan. Photo: Reuters
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Alparslan Bayraktar, said that the inspection of the oil pipeline between Iraq and Turkey has been completed, and the pipeline will be technically ready for operation soon.
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.
“As of today, an independent survey company has completed its work, and they are now preparing the report,” Bayraktar said in a press briefing last Thursday.
The Turkish minister did not mention a date for the resumption of oil flows through the pipeline.
The Association of the Petroleum Industry of Kurdistan (APIKUR) said at the end of August that the closure of the Iraqi oil export pipeline to the Turkish port of Ceyhan has cost producers and the Iraqi government about $4 billion.
According to the APIKUR, which includes a group of foreign and local companies working in oil production, losses are expected to continue despite initial talks between the Iraqi and Turkish governments to resolve the outstanding issue.