ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iranian authorities have rejected claims that Tehran had an agreement with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on building two pipelines for exporting Kurdish oil to the outside world through Iran. The Iranian Oil Ministry said in a statement that any agreement on this issue depends on negotiations and the outcome of meetings between Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh and Iraqi authorities. Zanganeh is due to arrive in Baghdad next week for meeting with Iraqi officials. Iran’s Fars News Agency reported earlier this week that on his visit to Baghdad Zanganeh would discuss with his Iraqi counterpart Abdul Jabbar Allibi a proposed pipeline to export Kurdish crude to international buyers through his Iran, in addition to other issues as the future of the oil market, the role of Tehran and Iraq in OPEC. The agency said that Zanganeh would specifically discuss the question of exporting the Kurdistan Region's oil from Sulaimani province to Iran. KRG representative in Tehran Nazim Dabagh said he was unaware of any such plans for a pipeline but that it could be part of Iran’s overall ambition to connect the two countries economically. “Probably this visit is within the context of efforts being made by Iran to connect Kirkuk, Kurdistan Region, and all Iraq to Iran. And this way, export them to the world," Dabagh told Rudaw. The KRG currently exports its oil to the world market via the Turkish port of Ceyhan on the Mediterranean coast.
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