ANKARA: Turkiye and Iraq did not reach a consensus to immediately restore Iraq’s northern oil exports but the two sides agreed to hold more dialogue in the future, Reuters reported on Tuesday.
Ankara halted flows of oil on March 25 following an arbitration ruling by the International Chamber of Commerce ordered Turkey to pay Iraq damages of $1.5 billion for unlawful exports by the Kurdistan Regional Government from 2014 to 2018.
Turkiye, Iraq Yet to Agree on Oil Exports Restoration
The block contains mainly oil originating from the Kurdish region of Iraq. The outcomes of the talks were to allow Ankara and Baghdad to finalize pipeline maintenance before restoring oil flow, stated an Oil Ministry press statement.
Iraq’s Minister for Oil Hayan Abdel-Ghani arrived in Ankara to discuss matters including the restoration of oil exports via the Ceyhan oil terminal, Reuters reported.
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An Iraqi official said on Tuesday that the Turkish Energy Ministry apprised Iraq’s SOMO firm last month that it needed time to check the technical viability of the pipeline to restore flows.
“Turkish Ministry for Energy informed SOMO last month that more time is needed to check the pipeline and crude tanks in Ceyhan for any costs resulting from the quake-hit Turkiye,” said the Iraqi official.
