Turkey, Iraq Extend Oil Pipeline Deal for One Year

Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar announced on Saturday that the agreement replaces the previous arrangement, which expired earlier this week, and provides for the continued operation of the Iraq-Turkey Pipeline (ITP).

Bayraktar said he held talks in Ankara with Iraq’s oil minister, during which Turkey’s state energy company BOTAS and Iraq’s state-owned firms SOMO and NOC signed the agreement.

According to Bayraktar, the temporary arrangement provides a daily transit capacity of 750,000 barrels of crude oil while both countries continue negotiations on a broader long-term agreement governing the pipeline.

Turkey is also seeking to increase utilization of the pipeline, which has a maximum capacity of 1.5 million barrels per day, and is studying plans to extend the network to oil fields in southern Iraq.

Turkish data indicate that the pipeline currently transports approximately 170,000 barrels of crude oil per day to the Mediterranean export terminal at Ceyhan.