Baghdad, 26 March 2023 (GNP): An oil official reported that after winning a protracted arbitration lawsuit against Turkiye, Iraq ceased exporting crude from the northern Kirkuk oilfield and the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region on Saturday.
The move to halt crude exports of 450,000 barrels per day (bpd) stems from a 2014 dispute in which Baghdad alleged that Turkiye had broken the terms of a joint agreement by permitting the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to export oil via a pipeline to the Turkish port of Ceyhan as it is prohibited by Baghdad.
The Iraqi oil ministry stated on Saturday that the International Chamber of Commerce made a decision in favor of Iraq on Thursday.
Also Read: Israeli missiles strikes on Syria’s Aleppo Arms Depot
According to a source, Turkiye has told Iraq that it will abide by the tribunal’s decision.
Following that, Turkiye stopped flowing petroleum from Iraq through the pipeline that goes to Ceyhan, as per one of the officials.
A source familiar with pipeline operations told that Iraq had been flowing 370,000 bpd of KRG petroleum and 75,000 bpd of federal crude through the pipeline before it was suspended.
A second oil ministry official announced that “A delegation from the oil ministry will travel to Turkiye soon to meet energy officials to agree on a new mechanism to export Iraq’s northern crude oil in line with the arbitration ruling”.
