Shafaq News- Baghdad/ Ankara

Iraq’s oil exports via Turkiye remain stalled at around 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) from Kirkuk, as Baghdad and Ankara continue negotiations without agreement on the framework for resuming shipments.

Deputy Oil Minister Bassem Mohammed told Shafaq News that Turkiye is “reluctant” to return to the previous draft agreement, instead proposing investment in oil sector projects inside Iraq. He noted that Baghdad is considering engagement in such projects to renew the agreement and secure mutual benefits.

The previous arrangement governed exports from northern Iraq through the Iraq–Turkiye pipeline to the Turkish port of Ceyhan, including mechanisms for oversight and revenue handling between Baghdad and the Kurdistan Region.

Resuming northern exports has gained urgency as Iraq seeks to maintain alternative export routes amid disruptions linked to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Read more: Abundance trapped by dependency

On domestic supply, the ministry is pumping crude from southern fields to northern refineries to offset reduced flows from Kirkuk.

Current exports include roughly 30,000 bpd from the Kurdistan Region, with lower volumes linked to the suspension of operations by several oil companies, Mohammed noted, adding that a return of those companies could raise export volumes through Turkiye to between 400,000 and 500,000 bpd.

Read more: Iraq’s oil restart tests a fragile federal compact