Turkey restarts buying of Iraqi oil, says energy minister

ISTANBUL - Anadolu Agency

REUTERS Photo

The Turkish Petroleum Refineries Corporation (TÜPRAŞ) has bought 520,000 barrels of oil brought to market by the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq, Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yıldız said late on Dec. 11.

The oil will be transported via the port of Ceyhan and sold by Iraq’s national oil company, Yıldız added, noting that a total of 2.6 million barrels have been extracted in the Kurdish region so far.

The sale is one of the first made under a deal between the government of Iraq and the KRG, which ends a dispute over oil-revenue sharing. The Kurds are giving Baghdad half of the barrels extracted from the region, in exchange for $500 million in funds to pay the salaries of regional civil servants.

Yıldız was speaking at a meeting with Iraqi Electricity Minister Qassim al-Fahdawi in Istanbul, at which an agreement for the construction of a 3,000 megawatt combine was signed.

Private firm Mass Global and Iraqi banks will finance a $3 billion, 3,000 megawatt (MW) gas-fired power plant being built by Turkey’s Enka in the Iraqi city of Bismayah, the companies said.

Al-Fahdawi said the new Iraqi government would work to collaborate with Turkey, praising the Turkish experience with Turkmenistan in importing electricity to Turkey.

“I just want to urge the Turkish government to see us in the same way as Turkmenistan,” al-Fadawi said.