Deal to resume Iraqi oil exports to Turkey close at hand - Official
ALBAWABA – Iraq’s Oil Minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani announced Sunday that a deal to resume Iraqi oil exports to Turkey from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) territories is close at hand.
Meanwhile, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and foreign oil companies operating in the semi-autonomous region will resume oil production within days, he said.
Speaking during a visit to the region’s capital, Erbil, Abdel-Ghani said Iraq had reached an “understanding” with Turkey on resuming northern Iraqi oil exports through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline.
He had arrived in Erbil to meet with KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani to discuss the months-long suspension of oil exports, according to a statement released by Iraq's Oil Ministry, as reported by Anadolu.
Iraqi oil exports from the Kurdish territories will resume soon. A security guard is seen at the Tawke oil refinery near the village of Zacho, in the autonomous Iraqi region of Kurdistan, on May 31, 2009. (Photo by ALI AL-SAADI / AFP)
The minister hopes to reach an agreement within "two or three days" with oil producers in the region, including the regional government and foreign companies, the Erbil-based Rudaw News Agency reported.
The KRG Prime Ministry's statement cited Barzani as saying that “the halt of oil exports has caused billions of dollars in losses to the public treasury and must be resumed as soon as possible.”
Head of the KRG’s Department of Foreign Relations Safeen Dizayee said these losses amounted to some $5.5 billion in total, due to the suspension of oil exports through Turkey’s Ceyhan port since March.
Moving forward, Barzani said that in the second stage, there will be an agreement with Turkish officials on oil exports via the Iraq-Türkiye pipeline and there is already a consensus on this matter.
Iraqi oil exports through Turkey’s Ceyhan port was halted following a decision on March 23 by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). Efforts to resume exports and resolve the issue have been ongoing for months.
