Baghdad says will export oil to Turkey ‘without passing through Kurdistan Region’

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraqi Oil Minister Hayyan Abdul-Ghani said on Monday that within “one week” Iraq will begin exporting oil “directly” from Kirkuk to Turkey “without passing through the Kurdistan Region,” according to the state-run Iraqi News Agency (INA).

“The Iraqi-Turkish pipeline for transporting Kirkuk oil, with a capacity of 200,000 to 250,000 barrels per day, is currently undergoing final testing and qualification,” Abdul-Ghani said.

Abdul-Ghani was referring to the 48-inch Baiji–Fishkhabour pipeline, which has the capacity to export up to one million barrels of oil per day. The pipeline has been out of service since suffering extensive damage in 2014 when the Islamic State (ISIS) seized large areas of northern Iraq. It stretches from Salahaddin and Kirkuk provinces to Fishkhabour, where it connects to Turkey’s section of the Iraq-Turkey Pipeline (ITP).

“Only about 100 kilometers remain to undergo hydrostatic testing within a week, which will allow oil to be pumped directly from the Kirkuk fields into the pipeline without passing through the Kurdistan Region,” the federal oil minister said.

Disputes between Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) have intensified in recent days over Iraq’s request to export oil through the Kurdistan Region’s pipeline to Turkey, as well as long-standing financial disagreements and recent security concerns in the Region.

Baghdad earlier accused Erbil of refusing a request to export up to 300,000 barrels of oil per day through the pipeline, in addition to roughly 200,000 barrels produced in the Kurdistan Region.

The KRG’s Ministry of Natural Resources on Sunday dismissed Baghdad’s claims, accusing the federal oil ministry of "distorting facts" regarding the export of oil through the Region’s pipeline to Turkey’s Ceyhan port.

The Kurdish ministry insisted Baghdad is maintaining a “suffocating embargo” on the Kurdistan Region and has failed to “confront” attacks by Iran-aligned armed groups in Iraq targeting the Region’s energy infrastructure.

The dispute comes as oil exports from the Kurdistan Region have largely halted following repeated drone and missile attacks on energy infrastructure. The strikes have been blamed on pro-Iran armed groups in Iraq, which say the attacks are linked to Tehran’s confrontation with Washington and Tel Aviv.

Abdul-Ghani added that Iraq’s crude oil production currently stands at about 4.4 million barrels per day, in line with its OPEC quota. However, he said “military operations in the Gulf and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz led to the cessation of Iraqi oil exports days after the outbreak of war in the region.”

“Current production ranges between 1.5 and 1.6 million barrels per day to meet the needs of refineries and power plants,” the oil minister said. “Oil and gas products are currently meeting domestic demand despite the halt in exports and the impact on oil revenues.”