Turkiye seeks full Iraq-Turkiye pipeline capacity, minister says

Shafaq News/ Turkiye wants to operate the Iraq-Turkiye oil pipeline at full capacity, Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said on Sunday.

Oil exports from the Kurdistan Region to Turkiye have been suspended since March 2023 after an ICC ruling ordered Ankara to compensate Baghdad for unauthorized shipments. On Feb. 22, Iraq’s Oil Ministry announced that all procedures for resuming exports from the Kurdistan Region had been completed.

"The pipeline has been ready for a year and a half, and we want to use the Iraq-Turkiye pipeline, especially the 650-kilometer stretch from Silopi to Ceyhan," Bayraktar stated.

He added that Turkiye aims to transport some of the oil through this pipeline to the Kirikkale refinery while also shipping it from Ceyhan to refineries in Turkiye and other global markets.

Regarding the Development Road project, Bayraktar noted that the planned trade initiative involves Turkiye and Iraq constructing a pipeline extending to the Gulf to facilitate Iraqi oil exports to international markets.