The halt in Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) oil exports through Türkiye’s Mediterranean Ceyhan port has cost Iraq and the semi-autonomous region more than $5 billion, an official said Tuesday.
Türkiye suspended Iraq’s 450,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil exports through the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline on March 25 after 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 ICC had recognized most of Ankara’s demands. Its Energy Ministry said the chamber ordered Iraq to compensate Türkiye for several violations concerning the case.
Multiple high-level talks between Türkiye and Iraq have been held since last week, but negotiations have not yielded results.
Safeen Dizayee, head of the KRG’s Department of Foreign Relations, said Türkiye supported the resumption of oil exports and the semi-autonomous region was also very eager regarding the shipments.
Still, Baghdad “officially says they are ready, but they have not taken any practical steps yet,” Dizayee told reporters.
The halt since March 25 has cost Iraq nearly $5.5 billion so far, he noted.
As part of expanded contacts, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar and Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan flew to Iraq last week to discuss energy and economic and security relations.
Bayraktar said Monday that Türkiye aims to expedite the revival and operation of the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline as soon as possible.
Representatives from Iraq’s Oil Ministry have indicated that additional negotiations with Ankara might be necessary before the pipeline can be fully operational once again.
Meanwhile, a Bloomberg News report on Friday suggested Türkiye was seeking a compromise over competing demands from Iraq and the KRG over revenue-sharing from oil exports.
Baghdad and Irbil reported in April they had reached an export deal. Earlier reports suggested Türkiye was seeking to negotiate the size of damages it was ordered to pay.
It is also reportedly seeking outstanding issues in other open arbitration cases to be permanently resolved before it agrees to the resumption of flows.
The sides have meanwhile agreed to finalize pipeline maintenance before resuming oil flow.
Bayraktar on Monday said maintenance operations were almost complete.
"We are carrying out these activities in utmost coordination," he told the public broadcaster TRT Haber. "Our goal is to put the Iraq-Türkiye oil pipeline into operation as soon as possible."
