Kurdistan Region Anticipates Resumption of Oil Exports Through Turkish Pipeline

Shafaq News / The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is expecting to resume oil exports through the pipeline leading to Turkey's Ceyhan port after a recent international ruling in favor of the Iraqi Federal Government resulted in a halt to exports from the pipeline.

The KRG spokesperson, Dilshad Shehab, stated during a press conference held on Sunday that there is an agreement between Turkey and the Kurdistan Region for oil exports, just as there is an agreement between Iraq and Turkey. Shahab expressed confidence in the resumption and continuity of Kurdistan's oil export process.

This announcement follows the Iraqi Ministry of Oil's declaration on Saturday that it had won the international arbitration case against Turkey regarding the export of crude oil from the Kurdistan Region through the Turkish port of Ceyhan.

The ministry plans to discuss the export mechanism with relevant authorities in the Kurdistan Region and Ankara. The case dates back to 2014 when Baghdad claimed that Turkey had violated a joint agreement by allowing the Kurdistan Regional Government to export oil through a pipeline to the Turkish port of Ceyhan.

A senior official from the Iraqi Ministry of Oil stated that the International Court of Arbitration officially informed them of the final verdict on Thursday, which was in favor of Iraq. A source revealed that Turkey informed Iraq that it would respect the arbitration ruling.

According to Reuters, Turkish navigation officials informed Iraqi employees at the Turkish Ceyhan Oil Export Center that no vessel would be allowed to load Kurdistan Region crude without the approval of the Iraqi government.