ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraqi Oil Minister Basim Mohammed Khudair left for Turkey on Saturday to sign an agreement related to the export of Iraqi crude oil through Turkey’s Ceyhan port, his ministry said, without elaborating.
The ministry said in a statement that Khudair is “heading a high-level delegation to sign an agreement for the transportation and loading of Iraqi crude oil through the Iraq–Turkey pipeline to Turkey’s Ceyhan port.”
It remains unclear which agreement the ministry was referring to, but the two countries have been negotiating an interim deal to allow Iraq to continue exporting its oil to international markets through Ceyhan after their decades-old agreement expired recently.
The temporary deal is aimed at giving both countries time to negotiate a longer-term agreement. Iraq had sought to renew the previous agreement, but Turkey wanted to change its terms.
"Our goal is to sign a comprehensive energy cooperation agreement as soon as possible," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said during a joint press conference with the Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi in Ankara on Tuesday.
Erdogan quoted Zaidi as telling him Iraq can supply Turkey with one million barrels of oil per day.
"He says, 'Don't be dependent on anyone else.' One million barrels. Yes, Mr. Prime Minister, there's no need to be dependent on anyone. If we can transfer one million barrels of oil from our immediate neighbor Iraq, God willing, it will meet our needs," Erdogan added.
