Ankara confirms completion of inspection for Kurdistan oil pipeline

Shafaq Newws / Turkish Minister of Energy, Alparslan Bayraktar, announced on Friday the completion of the inspection of the oil pipeline from the Kurdistan Region to the port of Ceyhan, confirming that the pipeline would be technically ready for operation soon.

Bayraktar said in a press statement, "As of today, an independent survey company has completed its work, and they are now preparing the report." However, he did not mention a specific date for the resumption of oil flows through this pipeline.

Turkey had suspended flows through the pipeline in the Kurdistan Region on March 25th last year, after an arbitration ruling by the International Chamber of Commerce ordered Ankara to pay compensation to Baghdad for oil exports through the Kurdistan Region without the consent of the federal government between 2014 and 2018.

After that decision, Turkey began maintenance work on the pipeline, which passes through a seismically active area and which it said had been damaged by floods caused by the devastating earthquake that struck the southern region on February 6th of last year.

It's worth noting that the Kurdistan Region's Oil Producers' Union announced in late August last year that the suspension of exports to the Turkish port of Ceyhan had cost producers and the Iraqi government losses of around $4 billion, as producers in the region were forced to reduce production following the halt of oil flow through the pipeline.