2023-11-22T11:19:42+00:00
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/ The Ministry of Oil announced, on Wednesday, the start of Iraqi-Turkish discussions in the oil and energy sector in the capital, Baghdad.
Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Affairs and Oil Minister Hayan Abdul Ghani received the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of the Republic of Turkey Alp Arslan Bayraktar, according to what the ministry announced in a statement.
The Ministry stated that during the meeting, bilateral relations in the oil and energy sector and ways to enhance areas of joint cooperation were discussed.
The statement explained that the two sides held a meeting that included officials in the Turkish Ministries of Oil and Energy and Natural Resources to discuss matters and issues of common interest, in addition to enhancing the prospects for bilateral cooperation in all fields, especially in the oil and energy sector.
It is hoped that the guest minister will meet with a number of government officials during his visit to Baghdad, according to the statement.
In turn, economic expert Bahjat Ahmed said in his post that there is progress in discussions between Iraq and Turkey about re-exporting oil from Kirkuk and the Kurdistan Region through the Turkish port of Ceyhan.
He added, “But the main obstacle now to this process is the Federal Court’s decision, according to which all oil contracts for the region with foreign companies, and the Kurdistan oil export contract concluded with Turkey, were terminated. The companies operating in the region must be convinced of the new situation.”
Turkey stopped transporting oil through the oil export line from the Kurdistan Region, after an arbitration ruling in March, from the International Chamber of Commerce, ordered Ankara to pay compensation to Baghdad for unauthorized exports between 2014 and 2018.
Turkey has begun maintenance work on the pipeline, which contributes about 0.5 percent of global crude oil supplies.
But Baghdad and Ankara recently agreed to wait until the maintenance assessment of the pipeline, which crosses a seismic zone, is completed to resume flows, while continuing their legal battle over arbitration decisions.