Iraqi Kurdish oil exports from Turkey to begin

Taner Yildiz, Turkish Energy Minister has said that exports of Iraqi Kurdish oil stored at the port of Ceyhan could begin this month on the Mediterranean coast pending resolution of a dispute between Baghdad and Iraqi Kurdistan.

The Kurds have sent some 1.5 million barrels of oil through a new pipeline into storage tanks at Ceyhan in Turkey. The tanks at Ceyhan have can store as much as 2.5 million barrels of crude.

But Baghdad wants to keep the trade under its control, and Ankara is awaiting Iraq’s approval before allowing exports to begin.

Abdul Kareem Luaibi, Iraqi Oil Minister had said in April that he expected a deal to be reached within days to resolve the long-running oil dispute with the Kurdistan government in Arbil, but there is still no deal.

Iraqi Kurdistan has been autonomous since 1991 but relies on Baghdad for a slice of the OPEC producer’s $100 billion-plus budget. It has signed contracts with oil companies to exploit its own resources which Baghdad does not recognise.