A Significant Step for Energy Cooperation: Iraq-Turkey Crude Oil Pipeline Agreement

A crucial agreement was signed between Turkey and Iraq to ensure the effective use of the Iraq-Turkey Crude Oil Pipeline. According to the statement from the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, Minister Alparslan Bayraktar met with Iraqi Oil Minister Basim Muhammed Hüdeyir.Following these discussions, a 'Crude Oil Transportation Agreement' was signed between Boru Hatları ile Petrol Taşıma AŞ (BOTAŞ) and Iraqi state oil companies Petrol Pazarlama Şirketi (SOMO) and Kuzey Petrol Şirketi (NOC). The agreement was signed by BOTAŞ General Manager Abdulvahit Fidan, SOMO General Manager Ali Nizar Al-Shatri, and NOC General Manager Faisal Hammadi Ramadan. The agreement covers a daily capacity of 750,000 barrels. Minister Alparslan Bayraktar stated that the steps taken after the meeting between President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Iraqi Prime Minister Ali ez-Zeydi are of historic importance in terms of energy cooperation.

This crude oil pipeline is of utmost importance in creating an alternative route in a world experiencing the Strait of Hormuz crisis, where 20 million barrels are somehow stuck in the Gulf.

The Iraq-Turkey Crude Oil Pipeline contributes not only to the commercial relations between Turkey and Iraq but also to the supply security of global oil markets. Minister Bayraktar expressed the desire to fully utilize the pipeline's daily capacity of 1.5 million barrels and aims to transport oil from Kuwait and other Gulf countries through this route to world markets in the future.