Kurdish Crude Exports Via Turkey To Rise By 50 Percent Next Month: Report
Please note that we are not authorised to provide any investment advice. The content on this page is for information purposes only.
Iraqi Kurdistan, officially a federal entity of Iraq, will independently export nearly 60,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil through Turkey by the end of June, reported Reuters on Wednesday, raising the possibility of further tension with Baghdad, who have deemed all non-centrally approved oil sales as illegal.
Iraqi Kurdistan, officially a federal entity of Iraq, will independently export nearly 60,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil through Turkey by the end of June, reported Reuters on Wednesday, raising the possibility of further tension with Baghdad, who have deemed all non-centrally approved oil sales as illegal.
According to Reuters, Iraqi Kurdistan first began exporting small amounts of crude from its Taq Taq oilfield to Turkey’s Mersin port in early January, rising to just over 40,000 bpd this month.
The crude oil, said to be a highly sought after light sour quality, are trucked across the border to Turkey; while the opening of another oil terminal in Dortyol, Turkey, will see Kurdish crude oil exports rise by nearly 50 percent in June.
Related: Kurdistan Begins Independent Oil Exports Despite Baghdad Opposition
Related: Baghdad, Kurdistan Clash Over Kirkuk Oil Field
Previously, all Kurdish oil exports were exported through a Baghdad-controlled pipeline to Turkey before drying up last December due to a payment dispute.
Baghdad have repeatedly warned the autonomous Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) in Arbil that all oil exports must be authorised by the central government; and the Iraq State Oil Marketing Organisation (SOMO) on Wednesday immediately sent letters warning customers not to touch any oil that had not been marketed by SOMO. Iraq’s oil ministry have also threatened to sue producers in Kurdistan, namely Anglo-Turkish firm Genel Energy.
The dispute has caught the attention of Washington and U.S. President Barack Obama, who discussed with Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan last week over concerns about Turkey’s deepening energy ties with Iraqi Kurdistan.
Erdogan reportedly told the U.S. President that that it was impossible for Ankara to remain indifferent to potential projects in Iraq, while the two parties discussed what the ideal model for partnership should be in order to respect the Iraqi constitution.
[quote]”These partnerships could be done through state companies, semi-state companies and sometimes completely private ones,” told Turkey’s Energy Minister Taner Yildiz to Reuters after the meetings.[/quote]Related: Turkey’s Gamble On An Independent Kurdistan: A Play For Iraq’s Oil?
Related: Baghdad-Kurdistan Oil Talks “Have Reached A Dead End”: KRG
In January, a KRG source told AFP that the crude trade through Turkey was likely to keep going despite Baghdad opposition, with the KRG planning to build a new 1 million bpd oil pipeline to the Turkish border.
“Crude is a new component in the KRG’s ongoing barter deal with Turkey, and it’s likely to continue because Baghdad is not paying as agreed, nor is it supplying the KRG with sufficient refined products,” the KRG source said.
[quote]“This [dispute] will not resolve itself until Kurdistan has the infrastructure to allow it to export oil directly to Turkey and be independent from Baghdad,” added one foreign oil executive active in KRG territory to the Financial Times.[/quote]
