Baghdad: Oil Minister Basim Mohammed Khudhair confirmed that an export ceiling of 750,000 barrels per day has been set in the official agreement signed on Saturday with the Turkish Ministry of Energy and the Turkish company BOTAS.
According to Iraqi News Agency, "Based on the government's vision and strategy to strengthen economic and developmental relations with neighboring Trkiye, and in light of the results of the PM's visit, an official Iraqi delegation participated in Ankara in signing an agreement with the Turkish Ministry of Natural Resources and the Turkish Petroleum Pipeline Company (BOTAS) to continue pumping and exporting oil via the Ceyhan pipeline for a full year," Khudhair told the agency.
He explained, "The previous agreement for transporting oil via the Ceyhan pipeline expired on July 26th. Official negotiations between Baghdad and Ankara successfully led to this agreement, which guarantees the sustainability and continuity of export operations. This step represents a fundamental pillar for strengthening the Iraqi oil industry and securing strategic export outlets."
The signed agreement sets a maximum ceiling for current export capacity at approximately 750,000 barrels per day. Both sides aim - during this year - to prepare and draft a new framework agreement based on updating the 1973 agreement, to raise the export ceiling to 1.5 million barrels per day," he noted.
Khudhair highlighted that "Oil and gas relations with Trkiye are not limited to oil transport via Ceyhan, but extend to broader investment horizons. Advanced discussions have taken place regarding investment in and development of fields within Iraq, as well as the establishment of strategic partnerships between Iraqi and Turkish companies: Upstream and Downstream."
Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar announced on Saturday the signing of an agreement with Iraq to utilize the oil pipeline leading to the port of Ceyhan.
"We held a fruitful meeting at our ministry with Iraqi Oil Minister Basim Mohammed Khudhair and his accompanying delegation. Following the meeting, we signed a one-year agreement between the Turkish Petroleum Corporation (BOTAS) and the two Iraqi state-owned oil companies, SOMO and the National Oil Corporation (NOC), to ensure the optimal use of the crude oil pipeline between Iraq and Trkiye," said the Turkish Energy Minister in a statement reported by the Iraqi News Agency - INA.
He added, "While we continue working on a new long-term agreement for this pipeline, which has served as a strategic energy corridor between our two countries for nearly half a century, we have implemented this transit agreement, which covers a capacity of 750,000 barrels per day."
This pipeline- transporting Iraqi oil safely and uninterruptedly to global markets via Ceyhan - holds a more strategic position than ever before for the security of regional and global energy supplies, as evidenced by developments in global oil markets," he underscored.
The Turkish Energy Minister pointed out, "Our goal is to make the most of this strong infrastructure and achieve comprehensive and long-term cooperation that will open a new era in the Turkish-Iraqi partnership in the field of energy, and transport energy resources in Iraq and the region to global markets via Ceyhan."