Iraqi Kurdistan oil shipment to the world begins: Turkish minister

ANKARA - Reuters

Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yıldız. AA Photo

Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yıldız has said the long-awaited shipment of Iraqi Kurdistan’s oil to the international market has begun.

“The loading of 1 million barrels of oil belonging to Northern Iraq from the Ceyhan port is continuing. The loading will be complete as of today,” Yıldız said to Reuters.

The tanks at the Ceyhan port, located in the southern province of Adana, have a storage capacity of 2.5 million barrels of crude oil, which flows via the Kirkuk-Ceyhan Ol Pipeline and Yıldız had said the port reached its capacity.

However, exports from the Mediterranean port have been on hold, giving diplomacy a chance since the beginning of April as the Iraqi government has repeatedly said oil sales bypassing Baghdad are illegal and has threatened to sue any company involved in the trade.

At the end of April, Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani had said they will start exporting oil as of May 2 – with or without the central Iraqi government’s consent.