ANKARA: Crude oil from Iraqi Kurdistan has started flowing via a new pipeline to the Turkish Mediterranean export hub of Ceyhan but will not be shipped to world markets without the consent of Baghdad, Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said yesterday.
Yildiz hopes a deal can be reached this month for exports to begin, he told a news conference in Ankara. Flows through the pipeline would start at 300,000 b/d and rise to 400,000, he said.
Turkey signed a multi-billion-dollar energy package late last year with Iraqi Kurdistan (KRG) under which the semi-autonomous region plans independent energy exports via Turkey.
Kurdistan could eventually export some 2m b/d of oil to world markets and at least 10 billion cubic metres per year of gas to Turkey. Its bid to export oil and gas independently from Baghdad has infuriated officials in the Iraqi capital, which claims sole authority to manage Iraqi oil.
Turkey has been working to get the central government on board before exports start. “The flow of crude oil from Iraq has begun. It is being stored. It will not be exported without the consent of the Iraqi government,” Yildiz said.
Kurdistan has struck deals with ExxonMobil, Chevron and Total among others as it seeks to develop its energy industry.
Reuters
