BREEAKING NEWS: Iraq to resume oil exports through Ceyhan Port
Iraq has lost over $2 billion due to the closure of the Ceyhan Port
Iraqi and Turkish oil ministers stressed the need to resume oil exports once pipeline rehabilitation is complete.
The Iraqi Minister of Oil, Hayan Abdul-Ghani, met in the Turkish capital, Ankara, with the Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Alparslan Bayraktar, who discussed joint cooperation in the fields of energy, oil and gas, electrical interconnection, and renewable energy, according to an Iraqi Oil Ministry statement.
The two ministers also talked about regional issues of common interest and highlighted the importance of the oil pipeline between Iraq and Turkey, emphasizing the need to resume crude oil flows after finishing the rehabilitation processes, which the Turkish side described as necessary after the temblor that struck Turkey last February.
Iraqi and Turkish officials agreed to hold the 19th joint Iraqi-Turkish economic committee meeting in Baghdad, where the date will be determined later.
On March 25, Turkey halted Iraq's exports of 450,000 barrels per day through its pipeline from the Kurdistan region of Iraq to the Turkish port of Ceyhan.
Over $2 billion was lost by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) as a result of the 80-day halt of oil exports from the Kurdistan region of Iraq.
Turkey suspended oil exports after the Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) issued an arbitration decision.
According to the decision, Turkey must pay Baghdad $1.5 billion to compensate Baghdad for damages caused by the KRG's oil export without the federal government's permission in Baghdad between 2014 and 2018.
In 2013, the KRG began exporting crude oil independently, a move Baghdad considered illegal.
The Turkish presidential elections and discussions between SOMO and the KRG about an oil export deal delayed attempts to resume oil exports from Iraqi Kurdistan.
Due to the suspension of oil exports through the pipeline, the Kurdistan region of Iraq lacks liquidity.
Kurdish lawmakers and politicians said Iraqi Kurdistan had no choice but to accept 12.67 percent of the $153 billion budget approved by the Iraqi Parliament.
