Türkiye is discussing new oil and natural gas routes that could carry energy from Iraq and other Gulf producers to the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan and onward to Europe, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar has said.
Speaking to TRT Haber, Bayraktar said regional conflicts and disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz had underscored the need for alternative export routes.
Türkiye and Iraq signed a one-year arrangement on Aug. 1 covering the transport of up to 750,000 barrels of crude oil per day through the Iraq-Türkiye pipeline while the two countries work on a longer-term agreement.
Bayraktar said the Turkish section of the pipeline, running from Silopi to Ceyhan, currently has a daily capacity of 1.5 million barrels. Ankara wants to raise this to between 2 million and 2.5 million barrels and extend the network south to the Iraqi city of Basra.
The expanded route could carry part of Iraq’s production as well as crude from Kuwait and other Gulf producers seeking to reduce their reliance on the Strait of Hormuz, he said.
Bayraktar said the proposed projects would also strengthen Ceyhan’s role as a regional energy center. The port already handles an average of 550,000 to 600,000 barrels per day through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline.
Additional Iraqi and Gulf crude could be shipped to international markets from Ceyhan or supplied to refineries and potential petrochemical facilities in Türkiye, he added.
Ankara is also considering new storage investments in the area.
Bayraktar said revenue generated through the corridor could help finance the Development Road project, which is planned to connect Iraq’s Grand Faw Port with Türkiye and European markets.
Iraq has separately offered to supply Türkiye with up to 1 million barrels of crude oil per day, roughly matching the country’s requirement, according to the minister.
He stressed that the offer was separate from the 750,000-barrel transit arrangement.
Natural gas is another area under discussion.
In the short term, Türkiye could export gas to Iraq to help supply power plants that are unable to operate at full capacity because of fuel shortages.
Under a longer-term proposal, a gas pipeline could be built alongside the planned oil pipeline and electricity transmission lines extending toward Basra.
The same infrastructure could later carry gas produced in Iraq, Qatar or elsewhere in the Gulf to Türkiye and onward to Europe.
Qatari gas could alternatively reach Türkiye through Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria, Bayraktar said.
“All roads ultimately lead to Türkiye,” he said, citing the country’s pipeline network, storage capacity and gasification terminals.
Bayraktar said Türkiye’s natural gas storage facilities were currently full, with total capacity standing at between 6.3 billion and 6.5 billion cubic meters.
Ankara aims to double that capacity to between 12 billion and 13 billion cubic meters.
Türkiye has so far faced no supply disruption stemming from the Hormuz crisis, although it has been affected by fluctuations in global energy prices, he added.
