Iraq eyes new mechanism for oil exports via Turkiye
BAGHDAD, March 26, (Agencies) : The Iraqi Ministry of Oil said on Saturday it plans to discuss new mechanisms to export oil through Turkish Ceyhan oil hub after the country won a lawsuit against Turkiye.
In a statement, the ministry welcomed the final ruling issued, Thursday in Paris, by the International Chamber of Commerce’s International Court of Arbitration that asked the Turkish government to abide by Iraq’s government instructions regarding its crude oil export.
The ruling calls on all parties to respect international agreements and conventions in this regard, the ministry stressed.
Through the official Iraqi Oil Marketing Company (SOMO), the Ministry of Oil is the only entity authorized to manage export operations via Ceyhan Port, according to the statement.
The ministry indicated that it would discuss new mechanisms to export Iraq’s oil, through Ceyhan, with the concerned bodies in Iraq’s Kurdistan region and Turkish authorities in line new measures in a way that ensures sustainability of Iraq’s oil export.
The statement stressed deep-rooted relations between Iraq and Turkiye, indicating that the ruling does not make any barrier for developing and expanding bilateral ties to serve their common interests.
Some oil produced from Iraq’s northern wells was exported and sold through Ceyhan Port without informing the Iraqi ministry. (end)
Iraqi officials announced Saturday that Baghdad has won an international arbitration case that will halt oil exports from the semi-autonomous Kurdish region by way of Turkey.
Officials in Baghdad and Irbil, the seat of the Kurdish regional government, have long been at odds over sharing of oil revenues. In 2014, the Kurdish region decided to unilaterally export oil through an independent pipeline to the Turkish port of Ceyhan.
Baghdad called the move “smuggling” and “robbery” and filed a case against Turkey in the International Court of Arbitration, arguing that Turkey was violating the provisions of the Iraqi-Turkish pipeline agreement signed in 1973.
The central government considers it illegal for Irbil to export oil without going through the Iraqi national oil company, while Kurdish authorities have said the practice is meant to compensate for budget transfers withheld from the Kurdish region by Baghdad.
Iraq’s ministry of oil said in a statement that the ministry, via the national oil marketing company, SOMO, “is the only entity authorized to manage export operations through the Turkish port of Ceyhan.”
The Kurdish region’s ministry of natural resources said in a statement that the regional government will not “give up on the constitutional rights of the Kurdistani people” and that the ruling will not harm its relations with the central government.
The region’s Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said recent discussions with Baghdad “have laid the groundwork for us to overcome the arbitration ruling today” and that a team from the regional government will travel to Baghdad on Sunday for talks.