Kurdish oil flow continues in defiance of Baghdad’s legal move: Turkish energy minister

ANKARA

Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yıldız. AA Photo

Kurdish oil from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to the southern Turkish port of Ceyhan continues at 100,000 to 120,000 barrels, Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yıldız has said.

Shipments of oil pumped from the autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq and stored in Ceyhan began on the night of May 22, sparking reaction from the central Iraqi government, which insists it has the sole right to export the crude oil and describes the Kurdish sales as “smuggling.”

Baghdad’s Oil Ministry filed a request for arbitration against the Turkish state-owned pipeline operator BOTAŞ at the Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce after crude from Kurdistan was exported to international markets via Turkey.

Answering reporters’ questions in Ankara yesterday, the minister said oil flow is continuing, despite Baghdad’s legal move.

Yıldız also said they have not received any notices regarding the application.

“There have not been any notices conveyed to our side. If there were, we would be able to see them,” he said, adding the Economy Ministry is following developments to see if there have been any embargo attempts against Turkish companies, as Iraq has threatened doing.

The minister also added oil flow from Baghdad remains at a standstill and has not yet started.

The Kurds have sent around 1.5 million barrels of oil through the new pipeline, but both Ankara and Arbil have expressed hopes to double the daily flow amount to 200,000 after setting the conditions.