Iraq Signs One-Year Deal for Pipeline Exports Through Turkey

The Iraqi Oil Ministry plans to sign a one-year agreement to continue crude oil flows through the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline, with an export capacity of 750,000 barrels per day. The deal expired on Monday, ending a decades-long bilateral arrangement allowing operation of Baghdad's only functioning export pipeline. Iraq's output fell 66% amid the Iran war, dropping from 4.3 million to 1.4 million barrels per day.

The new agreement is a prelude to a comprehensive deal aimed at raising export capacity to more than one million barrels per day after completion of the Basra-Haditha-Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline. The 700-kilometre Basra-Haditha pipeline, with $1.5 billion allocated, will eventually link export routes through Syria, Turkey, and Jordan.

Iraqi Oil Minister Bassem Khudair is set to travel to Turkey on Saturday to sign the agreement, which includes a deal between the State Oil Marketing Company, the North Oil Company, and BOTAS. The development comes as Iraq seeks new routes to export crude oil amid regional conflict.