Iraq nears deal to restart pipeline oil exports from Kurdistan to Turkiye, sources say
BAGHDAD: Iraq, OPEC’s second-largest producer, has given preliminary approval to a plan to resume pipeline oil exports from its semi-autonomous Kurdistan region through Turkiye following delays to a hoped-for restart, sources familiar with the talks told Reuters.
The deal between Iraq’s federal government, the Kurdistan Regional Government and international oil companies could add at least 230,000 barrels per day of fresh supplies at a time OPEC producers are raising output to regain market share.
Iraq exports around 3.4 million barrels of oil per day from its southern ports, but the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline in the north has been shut since March 2023 after an arbitration court ruled that Turkiye should pay $1.5 billion in damages for unauthorized exports between 2014 and 2018. Turkiye is appealing the ruling.
Ankara has since said it is willing to restart exports, but the flows remain suspended because of ongoing legal and political disputes between Baghdad, the Kurdistan Regional Government in Irbil, and the international oil companies.
