Türkiye’s Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar met Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Affairs and Oil Minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani in Ankara to discuss regional issues including exports through the Iraq-Türkiye crude oil pipeline, as per a ministry statement.
Pointing out that the pipeline is important for the two countries, it was stated that the oil flow from the pipeline should continue as soon as possible after inspection, control and maintenance work carried out after the devastating Feb. 6, 2023 earthquakes.
Türkiye halted Iraq’s 450,000 barrels per day (bpd) of exports through a crude oil pipeline from the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq to the Turkish port of Ceyhan on March 25 after an arbitration ruling by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). The ICC ordered Türkiye to pay Baghdad damages of $1.5 billion for what it said were unauthorized exports by the KRG between 2014 and 2018.
Türkiye wants to negotiate the size of damages it was ordered to pay in the arbitration ruling, and also seeks clarification on other open arbitration cases.
"The ministers exchanged views on ways to further develop cooperation between Türkiye and Iraq in the fields of oil and gas, gas and electricity interconnection, renewable energy and energy efficiency,” the Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Ministry’s statement said.
“The two ministers, co-chairs of the Türkiye-Iraq Joint Economic Commission, agreed to hold their 19th meeting at the earliest suitable date in Baghdad," the statement added.
