Ceyhan District Eclipses Strait of Hormuz as Alternative Oil Trade Route

Türkiye's Ceyhan district is emerging as a potential center for oil and petroleum products trade, thanks to its pipeline network, expandable port, and storage infrastructure. Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar has stated that Türkiye aims to turn Ceyhan into a 'Rotterdam', a hub for oil and petroleum products storage, trading, and pricing.

The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline transports around 600,000 barrels of oil per day to the Ceyhan Marine Terminal. The Iraq-Türkiye Crude Oil Pipeline has an existing capacity of 1.5 million barrels per day, with up to 250,000 barrels currently being transported through Ceyhan.

A new one-year oil agreement between Türkiye and Iraq was signed on August 1, aiming to utilize the Iraq-Türkiye Crude Oil Pipeline's full capacity of up to 750,000 barrels per day. Ceyhan has the potential to handle around 3 million to 3.5 million barrels of oil per day.

The Silopi-Ceyhan pipelines have a combined transportation capacity of 1.5 million barrels per day, which could be expanded beyond its current capacity. This pipeline's potential to reach Ceyhan strengthens the district's position as an international outlet for Türkiye's growing oil production.