Physical Address
Indirizzo: Via Mario Greco 60, Buttigliera Alta, 10090, Torino, Italy
A proposed new agreement between Türkiye and Iraq must include a mechanism to ensure the full-capacity use of the oil pipeline between the two countries, according to Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar.
Last week, Ankara said the decades-old accord covering the Kirkuk-Ceyhan oil pipeline would end in July 2026 and an Iraqi official said Türkiye had proposed expanding the deal to include cooperation in oil, gas, petrochemicals and electricity.
Laying out Türkiye’s core demands, Bayraktar said the country was asking for a draft agreement to include “a mechanism to ensure full use of this pipeline,” which he said has never operated at full capacity.
“The note we’ve sent is along these lines,” the minister told reporters after a Cabinet meeting on Monday. “This pipeline has a capacity of almost 1.5 million barrels per day. There’s no flow at the moment. Even when it did flow, it was never at full capacity,” he said further.
The Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline has been idle since 2023 following an arbitration ruling by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) that Türkiye is appealing.
The ICC had ordered Ankara to pay Baghdad damages of $1.5 billion over what it said were unauthorized exports by Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) between 2014 and 2018.
Türkiye, on the other hand, said the ICC had recognized most of Ankara’s demands.
Multiple attempts to resume shipments have since failed, including due to disputes between Iraq, the KRG and the companies operating in the region.
Extending pipeline to south
Bayraktar said Türkiye’s proposal included options such as extending the pipeline to the south of Iraq.
“It (the pipeline) doesn’t have to be filled entirely with oil from Iraq. To reach those figures, the pipeline needs to reach the south anyway,” he said, adding that the deadline to agree on a new deal was July 2026.
Bayraktar noted that Türkiye had invested heavily in keeping the pipeline operational in recent years, and said he had told Iraqi Oil Minister Hayan Abdulghani at an OPEC meeting that a mechanism for full-capacity use should be part of the new deal.
In a decision published in its Official Gazette last week, Türkiye said the existing deal dating back to the 1970s – the Türkiye-Iraq Crude Oil Pipeline Agreement – and all subsequent protocols or memoranda would be halted from July 27, 2026.
Bayraktar stated that they have given the Iraqi side a deadline until July next year, and said that signing the new agreement before this date would be beneficial.
The Turkish government has said the Development Road initiative – a high-speed road and rail link running from Iraq’s port city of Basrah on the Gulf to the Turkish border and later to Europe – is an opportunity to extend the pipeline south. Baghdad allocated initial funding for the project in 2023.
New LNG deal with U.S. ‘possible’
Meanwhile, Bayraktar also said Türkiye is considering a new long-term liquefied natural gas (LNG) with the United States and continues discussions on joint oil and gas exploration as well as small modular reactors (SMRs).
“Joint exploration in oil and natural gas, as well as SMRs, are on the agenda. Especially since they are still ongoing, long-term LNG contracts are important. These are things that can quickly become concrete. (A new LNG agreement) It’s possible.
Officials from the Energy Ministry had previously stated that negotiations were being held with American companies regarding SMR technology.
Türkiye aims to install 20,000 megawatts (MW) of nuclear power capacity to complement its growing renewable energy output, including 15,000 MW from large-scale plants like Akkuyu and 5,000 MW from SMRs.
