Iraq Awaits Erdogan Visit, No Clear Date Set

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is set to visit Iraq in the near future to discuss the re-opening of the closed pipeline to the Turkish port of Ceyhan from Iraq’s northern fields, however, no date has been published yet.

• On 25 July, the Iraqi Prime Minister Shia’ al-Sudani and the Turkish ambassador to Iraq held a meeting. “The meeting witnessed discussions about the upcoming visit of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Iraq…”, the INA said.
• The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has begun delivering 50-90kbpd of crude to the Iraqi Federal Oil Ministry, signalizing a sign of the KRG’s willingness to comply with the new 2023 budget law, requiring 400kbpd of crude transfers for a share in the federal budget.
• Iraq was forced to halt around 470kbpd of crude oil exports from the northern region on 25 March through the export pipeline to the Turkish port of Ceyhan after an international arbitration tribunal ruled that it had to pay around 1.5bn$ in damages to Iraq.
• The reason for the delay in the resumption of flows remains unclear. Iraq’s oil minister said in early July, flows remain halted due to pipeline damages following the earthquakes in Turkey earlier this year. Erdogan said during a NATO summit in July, flows have not restarted because of issues between the Iraqi Federal Government and the KRG and Turkey would be to resume flows once the two parties overcame their issues. Previously, sources stated technical issues, the new Iraqi budget law or the Turkish general election were delaying the resumption.
• Iraq’s crude production stood at 4.47mbpd in June, compared with 4.4mbpd in May according to the Iraq Oil report.