Kurdistan plans to build a second oil pipeline to Turkey

within 18 months to two years , with a capacity of one million barrels per day .

Ashti Hawrami added that Kurdistan will measure its crude oil exports independently of the central government in Baghdad as soon as the first new pipeline starts working to Turkey.

He pointed out that the line will connect with the existing pipeline Kirkuk - Ceyhan and will use its unused capacity.

He said in a conference in Istanbul “we will measure independently. When we linked with the metering station of Baghdad, we have lost thousands of barrels of oil a day ... this is time is over."

Hawrami is visiting Turkey , accompanied by a government delegation headed by Nechirvan Barzani the President of KRG, in which the delegation will meet with Turkish Prime Minister , Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister , Davutoglu .

The visit comes after reaching the final stages of extending the pipeline that connects the oil wells of Kurdistan Region with the outside world via Turkey.

Kurdistan has close ties with Turkey, both in politics and economy after years of estrangement between the two sides.

It is hoped to complete a new pipeline linking the fields of Kurdistan to global markets via Turkey during the next few days , which strengthens the position of Kurdistan for the management of oil fields in isolation from the federal government in Baghdad .

The establishment of this line has angered Baghdad, which also does not recognize the contracts concluded by Kurdistan with international energy companies to develop its oil fields.

The region stopped pumping oil into the government pipeline that connects Kirkuk with Turkish port of Ceyhan since last year to protest the non - payment of Baghdad to dues foreign companies in Kurdistan.

The total production capacity of Kurdistan is about 300 thousand barrels per day of crude oil at the moment and expects to produce one million barrels per day in 2015 and two million barrels per day in 2019.