Iraq’s Oil Minister To Visit Ankara To Discuss The Restart Oil Flows

Iraq's oil minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani travelled to the Turkish capital Ankara to discuss several issues including the resumption of oil exports through the Ceyhan oil terminal that have been halted since 25 March, a source in the minister's office said.

• Iraqi oil minister will meet his Turkish counterpart to discuss energy issues, on top of which is the resumption of Iraq's northern oil exports via Turkey's Ceyhan port, said an oil official.
• "Iraq's oil minister is in Turkey to discuss obstacles delaying the resumption of oil exports and how to resolve lingering issues," said an oil ministry official who is close to the Iraqi northern oil exports operations.
• "Damages ordered by the arbitration ruling and the valid arbitration cases which are still opened against Ankara will be at the heart of the discussions," said the official.
• There have been many speculations as to why the resumption of northern Iraqi oil flows has been delayed with both sides blaming each other for the delay.
• Turkey halted Iraq's 470kbpd of exports through the northern Iraq-Turkey pipeline on March 25 after an arbitration ruling by the International Chamber of Commerce.