Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar has said Türkiye and Iraq are close to signing a short-term agreement to ensure the continued flow of Iraqi oil to Ceyhan.
Bayraktar met his Iraqi counterpart in Baghdad, where the two sides discussed cooperation in oil, natural gas and electricity.
Speaking to reporters after his talks, Bayraktar said Ankara and Baghdad had been working intensively to maintain flows through the Iraq-Türkiye crude oil pipeline.
He noted that the current agreement was set to expire toward the end of the month.
“We have brought to the final stage a short-term agreement covering the next 12 months that will ensure the process continues without interruption,” Bayraktar said.
“We aim to sign it in the coming days and share it with the public. Oil flow from Iraq to Ceyhan will continue,” he added.
Bayraktar said the Iraqi prime minister was expected to visit Türkiye toward the end of the month.
“Our main goal is to fully use the line’s capacity and even increase it,” he said.
He said extending the line to Basra was also an important option, as it would allow oil produced in Basra to be sent through Ceyhan to world markets.
Bayraktar said the two countries were also discussing longer-term projects that would connect them in oil, natural gas and electricity.
“We hope to turn all of these into concrete projects starting in the coming months,” he said.
Asked about increasing the capacity of the Iraq-Türkiye crude oil pipeline, Bayraktar said the Silopi-Ceyhan section has a daily capacity of 1.5 million barrels.
“Our aim is to use the existing capacity fully,” he said. “But if we look at the region’s potential, other producers may also need to be included in this process.”
“If they have a need and interest in this, it may be possible to open the door to them as well. Therefore, it could be turned into a 2.5 million-barrel oil pipeline,” he added.
Bayraktar also said Türkiye had two main proposals to help address Iraq’s electricity needs.
One option is to increase the capacity of the existing transmission line, he said.
The second is to bring natural gas to Iraq through Türkiye.
“There are existing power plants in Iraq that cannot operate because they cannot find gas,” Bayraktar said, adding that new natural gas plants could also help provide a more permanent and long-term electricity supply.
He said natural gas was currently available near Türkiye’s border with Iraq and that pipelines to be built on the Iraqi side could help meet Iraq’s gas needs for several years.
“In the later period, we also want to carry out projects together to bring natural gas produced in Iraq or the Gulf to Türkiye, and from Türkiye to Europe, through the same pipeline with reverse flow,” he said.
