Agreement expected soon
Turkey and Iraq are poised to formalize a 12-month arrangement within days to keep the crude oil pipeline between the two countries in operation, Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said on Thursday during an official visit to Baghdad.
Bayraktar said the current contract governing the pipeline is scheduled to lapse on July 27. "We have brought the agreement that will cover the next 12 months to the final stage. We aim to sign it in the coming days," he said in a statement while in Baghdad, adding that oil flow from Iraq to Turkey's Ceyhan port on the eastern Mediterranean coast will continue.
Background and recent history
The pipeline had been closed for roughly 2-1/2 years after an arbitration tribunal ordered Ankara to pay $1.5 billion in damages relating to unauthorized Iraqi exports that Turkey received between 2014 and 2018. Operations restarted late last year, restoring the flow of crude to Turkey's export terminal at Ceyhan.
Diplomatic and ministerial contacts
Bayraktar wrote on X that he held a productive meeting with Iraq Oil Minister Basim Mohammed to discuss cooperation in oil and gas. The Turkish minister also met with Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi during the Baghdad visit, according to the prime minister's office.
What is known and what remains
The ministers report that a one-year pipeline agreement is at the final stage and that they intend to sign it soon, securing uninterrupted deliveries to Ceyhan if the timeline holds. The current deal's July 27 expiry date gives a clear deadline for that signing, and the settlement of earlier arbitration issues preceded the pipeline's return to service late last year.
The available information does not specify additional contractual terms, financial arrangements, or operational changes beyond the duration of the proposed agreement and the ministers' statements on continued oil flow.