Turkey to increase Iraqi oil imports to 1 million barrels

Energy and Natural Resources Minister Taner Yıldız said Turkey plans to increase the number of imported barrels of crude oil flowing from northern Iraq to Turkey to over 1 million on a daily basis. Referring to the fact that around 2,300 barrels of crude oil flowed from northern Iraq to Turkey in March of last year, Yıldız said that this figure has now reached around 650,000 barrels per day. "We aim to increase it to over 1 million barrels," he added.

Answering questions from journalists before attending a meeting yesterday, Yıldız emphasized that individuals, companies and countries can attain success in line with the accuracy of their predictions. Turkey had said that the more crude oil and natural gas Iraq can transfer to countries and foreign markets, the faster it can become "normal," the minister said, adding that not only the region, but also the U.S. has to endorse the accuracy of this judgment despite initial hesitations.

According to Yıldız, 650,000 barrels of crude oil, which enters Turkey from northern Iraq, constitutes a major part of Iraq's total daily exports of 2.7 million barrels. Underlining that Turkey will continue its positive attitude about meeting both Turkey's and the EU's requirements, Yıldız added that Iraq's crude oil flows from two pipes, one of them being 40 inches, while the other is 46 inches. The minister emphasized that regardless of whether oil flows from Baghdad or Irbil, all revenue belongs to all Iraqi people.