ISTANBUL — Ankara and Baghdad have officially agreed to a one-year extension of their vital oil pipeline agreement, following high-level diplomatic and ministerial engagements, including a recent visit by Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi. Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar announced on X that the pact was finalized after a productive meeting in Ankara with his Iraqi counterpart, Bassem Mohammed Khudair. Prime Minister Zaidi praised the accord as a “strategic milestone” designed to secure a minimum export capacity of 750,000 barrels per day through the decades-old Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline, which connects Iraqi crude fields to Turkey’s Mediterranean export terminal at Ceyhan.
While ongoing efforts continue toward a permanent, long-term framework covering energy, electricity, and water resources, both governments authorized state and private firms to immediately implement the transit arrangement. The pipeline, boasting a maximum potential capacity of roughly 1.5 million barrels per day, serves as a critical economic artery for regional crude shipments, and this temporary one-year renewal ensures uninterrupted transit while broader bilateral negotiations proceed.
