Speaking in Ankara to reporters from Iraqi Kurdistan, Energy Minister Taner Yıldız said: "The oil transfer couldn't happen if Turkey was not in it because the central government in Baghdad did not allow it." Talking about relations with the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG), Baghdad and Ankara, Yıldız said: "We have important relations, agreements and contracts with them."

Yıldız spoke about the Iraq-Turkey Pipeline (ITP), which has carried oil for 40 years from Iraq to international markets through Turkey: "I hope it will work for more than 140 years, and the income belongs to our Iraqi brothers. ... The income of oil is shared: 17 percent for the KRG and 83 percent for other parts of Iraq according to Iraqi law, and we do not change, we do not interfere. ... At the moment, both the KRG and the central government in Baghdad are importing refined oil from Turkey via the Kirkuk-Ceyhan oil pipeline. There are a total of 58 oil wells in Iraqi Kurdistan - 28 in Sulaymaniyah and 30 in Irbil and Duhok - while a total of 25 foreign oil companies are operating in the region, the largest being Anglo-Turkish outfit, Genel Energy.

In July, crude oil exports from Iraq to Turkey's southern province of Ceyhan where oil is stored and shipped to international markets totaled 16 million barrels. The Kirkuk-Ceyhan oil pipeline has a capacity of 1.6 million barrels per day. The pipeline is critical for northern Iraqi oil exports. Talking about the price of natural gas that Turkey will buy from Iraq in 2017, Yıldız said that Turkey will not buy at half price, explaining, however, that it is normal to pay less as a neighboring country. The expected amount of natural gas is 4 billion cubic meters. The volume may increase by 2 billion cubic meters every year, eventually reaching 10 billion cubic meters.