Türkiye says ‘nothing yet’ on oil flow resumption from Iraq
Türkiye has not yet received any information from Iraq on the resumption of oil flows from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), a top official said on Wednesday.
Iraq’s oil minister said on Monday that oil exports from the KRG would resume next week, resolving a nearly two-year dispute that has disrupted crude flows as ties between Baghdad and Erbil improve.
A resumption is expected to ease economic pressure in the KRG, where the halt has led to salary delays for public sector workers and cuts to essential services.
“Nothing yet,” Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said when asked by Reuters in Parliament when the Iraqi oil flow would start and whether there was any information from Iraq on the subject.
Oil flows go through a KRG pipeline to Fish-Khabur on the northern Iraqi border, where the oil enters Türkiye and is pumped to the port of Ceyhan on its Mediterranean coast.
The oil flows were halted by Türkiye in March 2023 following an arbitration ruling by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).
The ICC ordered Ankara to pay Baghdad damages of $1.5 billion over what it said were unauthorized exports by the KRG between 2014 and 2018.
Türkiye, on the other hand, said the body had recognized most of Ankara’s demands.
In October 2023, Türkiye said the pipeline was ready for operations and that it was up to Iraq to resume flows.
The federal and regional governments have been negotiating ever since over the production and transport costs payable to the region and its commercial partners.
The Iraqi Oil Minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani told reporters on Monday that a ministry delegation would visit the KRG to negotiate a mechanism for receiving oil from the region and exporting it, adding the “export process will begin within a week.”
Abdel-Ghani said Baghdad would receive 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) from the region.
The Association of the Petroleum Industry of Kurdistan, which represents international oil firms operating in the Iraqi region, put losses to all parties since the pipeline closed at $20 billion.
Iraq, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ second-largest producer behind de facto leader Saudi Arabia, is currently pumping about 4 million bpd, OPEC data shows, in line with the production target agreed with the broader OPEC+ alliance.
It remains unclear how Iraq will boost its northern exports and stay compliant with OPEC+ cuts and whether it would, for example, trim exports from Basra in southern Iraq.
Irbil-based Rudaw TV had earlier this week cited KRG’s natural resources minister, Kamal Mohammed, as saying oil exports could resume before March because all legal procedures have been completed.
Earlier this month, the Iraqi Parliament approved a budget amendment to subsidize production costs for international oil companies operating in the KRG, a move aimed at unblocking northern oil exports.
