KRI and Baghdad discuss resuming oil exports through Turkey

Shafaq News / The President of the Kurdistan Region (KRI), Nechirvan Barzani, stated on Tuesday that Erbil and Baghdad are conducting talks to resume oil exports from KRI through Turkey's Ceyhan port, which have been halted since last March.

The Region's presidency released a statement indicating that President Barzani received the Turkish Ambassador to Iraq, Ali Rıza Güney, this morning. Both sides praised Turkey's relations with Iraq and the Region during the meeting, emphasizing their development and mutual cooperation, particularly in trade and economic sectors.

Regarding the resumption of KRI's oil exports, the statement mentioned that the Turkish ambassador renewed his country's readiness for exports. In this context, President Barzani expressed gratitude to Turkey for its stance and highlighted ongoing technical discussions between Erbil and Baghdad for this purpose.

On March 25th, Turkey halted shipments of KRI's oil to Ceyhan port following an international arbitration decision that obligated Ankara to pay compensation to Baghdad for breaching a 1973 pipeline agreement, allowing the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to export oil without the Iraqi government's consent.

The oil pipeline stretching from Kirkuk governorate to Ceyhan port is the sole export route for the crude produced from northern Iraq's oil fields.

Furthermore, the Iraqi government and KRG reached a provisional agreement on April 4th, paving the way for oil exports to resume. However, Turkey refused to allow oil re-exportation through its Ceyhan port.

Recently, Baghdad and Ankara agreed to await the completion of an assessment of maintenance for the earthquake-prone pipeline before resuming flows while continuing their legal battle over arbitration decisions.

Moreover, Turkish Energy Minister, Alparslan Bayraktar announced on October 5th that the pipeline carrying oil from KRI and Kirkuk was ready to operate as of Wednesday, affirming their readiness to initiate shipments after a hiatus of nearly six months.