Oil exports from the Kurdistan Region through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline have been halted since March 23 after a Paris arbitration court ruled in favor of Baghdad against Ankara, saying the latter had breached a 1973 pipeline agreement by allowing Erbil to begin independent oil exports in 2014.
Iraqi Oil Minister Hayyan Abdul Ghani and Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar “emphasized the importance of the Iraq-Turkey crude oil pipeline for the two countries and stated the importance of resuming crude oil flows through the Iraq-Turkey crude oil pipeline system as soon as possible following the completion of the necessary inspection activities that had to be carried out after the earthquakes on February 6, 2023,” the joint statement said.
Several meetings have been held between Iraqi and Turkish delegations since March, aimed at resuming the flow of crude oil as Erbil continues to incur billions of dollars of losses since the exports were halted. The meetings, however, have not yielded any results.
Kurdish and Iraqi authorities have repeatedly declared their willingness to resume the exports, saying the reason the process has not yet restarted is because Turkey wants to inspect and rehabilitate the port tubes that might have been damage following February’s earthquake.
The ministers also “emphasized the promotion of prospects for joint cooperation in the fields of energy, oil and gas, electrical interconnection, and renewable energy,” according to the statement.
Article 13 of the Iraqi federal budget obliges Erbil to hand over at least 400,000 barrels of crude oil daily to Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) to be exported through Turkey’s Ceyhan port, or to be used domestically in case it is not exported.
The issue of crude oil exports is expected to be discussed with Turkish Oil Minister Hakan Fidan, who is expected to visit Baghdad and Erbil on Wednesday.
Prior to the halt, around 400,000 barrels of oil a day were being exported by Erbil through Ankara, in addition to some 75,000 barrels of Kirkuk oil daily through the same pipeline.
