Just a week after the Iraqi federal government announced it was repairing its own oil pipeline to Turkey, which would replace a Kurdish pipeline that has been out of service amid a three-way diplomatic row between Baghdad, Erbil and Ankara, media reports Iraqis report that OPEC is urging Baghdad to resume Kurdish oil exports to Turkey.
According to the Kurdistan24 news agency, citing an anonymous source from the Iraqi Federal Oil Ministry, OPEC asked Iraqi Federal Oil Minister Hayyan Abdul Ghani to approve Kurdistan’s oil exports to the Turkish port of Ceyhan .
In what the news agency called a “formal appeal to the Iraqi oil minister,” OPEC reportedly demanded that the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) be allowed to export 200,000 barrels of oil per day through the port Turkish from Ceyhan. The news agency also claims that the request has now been forwarded to Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani. The 1.4 million bpd Iraq-Turkey pipeline has been out of service since March last year, but it was pumping about 450,000 bpd just before it closed.
Iraqi media allegations of an OPEC request have not been independently confirmed.
Baghdad’s maneuvers aim to lead to the revocation of the KRG’s semi-autonomous status, and international oil companies are now under pressure to sign new contracts with Baghdad for their oil and gas operations in Kurdish territory.
At the same time, Iraqi officials say the repaired pipeline that will replace the shuttered Kurdish pipeline should be operational by the end of the month, signaling a victory for Baghdad and the potential end of Kurdish semi-autonomy, which could lead to further unrest in the region.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
More important reading on Oilprice.com:
Just a week after the Iraqi federal government announced it was repairing its own oil pipeline to Turkey, which would replace a Kurdish pipeline that has been out of service amid a three-way diplomatic row between Baghdad, Erbil and Ankara, media reports Iraqis report that OPEC is urging Baghdad to resume Kurdish oil exports to Turkey.
According to the Kurdistan24 news agency, citing an anonymous source from the Iraqi Federal Oil Ministry, OPEC asked Iraqi Federal Oil Minister Hayyan Abdul Ghani to approve Kurdistan’s oil exports to the Turkish port of Ceyhan .
In what the news agency called a “formal appeal to the Iraqi oil minister,” OPEC reportedly demanded that the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) be allowed to export 200,000 barrels of oil per day through the port Turkish from Ceyhan. The news agency also claims that the request has now been forwarded to Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani. The 1.4 million bpd Iraq-Turkey pipeline has been out of service since March last year, but it was pumping about 450,000 bpd just before it closed.
Iraqi media allegations of an OPEC request have not been independently confirmed.
Baghdad’s maneuvers aim to lead to the revocation of the KRG’s semi-autonomous status, and international oil companies are now under pressure to sign new contracts with Baghdad for their oil and gas operations in Kurdish territory.
At the same time, Iraqi officials say the repaired pipeline that will replace the shuttered Kurdish pipeline should be operational by the end of the month, signaling a victory for Baghdad and the potential end of Kurdish semi-autonomy, which could lead to further unrest in the region.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
More important reading on Oilprice.com: