Iraq and Turkey signed a one-year agreement on Saturday to resume the transport and loading of Iraqi crude oil through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline to the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan, a deal Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi hailed as a “strategic milestone” for restoring one of Baghdad’s main export routes.
In a statement, al-Zaidi said Iraqi and Turkish companies will begin carrying out the operational aspects of the agreement, which guarantees flows of at least 750,000 barrels per day through the pipeline to the port of Ceyhan. He added that Baghdad and Ankara are working under a “carefully planned roadmap” toward a broader framework covering oil, electricity, water resources and other areas of shared interest.
“Today, Iraq and Turkiye achieved an important strategic milestone to ensure the uninterrupted flow of our oil exports and strengthen economic cooperation,” the prime minister wrote. “The two sides signed an agreement on the transportation and loading of Iraqi crude oil through the Iraq-Turkiye Pipeline.”
The one-year accord was signed by Iraqi Oil Minister Bassem Mohammed Khudair and the Turkish side, involving Turkiye’s pipeline operator BOTAS, Iraq’s State Organization for Marketing of Oil (SOMO) and the Iraqi National Oil Company (INOC), according to Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar.
Bayraktar described the Iraq-Turkey pipeline as a strategically important energy corridor that enables the safe and uninterrupted flow of Iraqi crude to global markets via Ceyhan, stressing its longstanding role in supporting regional and global energy security, particularly during periods of volatility in international oil markets.
The deal follows the expiration of the previous Iraq-Turkey crude transportation agreement on July 26, after which Baghdad and Ankara held negotiations that culminated in the new one-year accord. Both governments now intend to negotiate a long-term framework over the coming year to replace and modernize the 1973 Iraq-Turkey pipeline agreement. Khudair said the objective is to expand the pipeline’s export capacity beyond current levels, with a long-term goal of increasing shipments to more than 1 million barrels per day.
The resumption comes as global oil markets remain on edge over Middle East supply risks, with Brent crude trading near $88 a barrel. Restoring the Ceyhan route, one of Iraq’s most important channels for shipping crude to international markets, strengthens Baghdad’s export capacity and deepens energy cooperation with Ankara. It follows bp’s announcement of a major expansion of its partnership with Turkiye’s TPAO in Iraq’s oil sector.
Sources: Shafaq News, Kurdistan24
Author: Finance Desk
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