Washington: The US State Department announced today, Wednesday, that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio agreed with Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani to reopen the Iraq-Turkey pipeline as soon as possible.

According to National Iraqi News Agency, a statement by the US State Department said that the two sides “agreed on the need to achieve Iraq’s energy independence, accelerate the reopening of the Iraq-Turkey pipeline, and respect the contractual terms of US companies operating in Iraq to attract additional investments.”

The Iraqi Ministry of Oil had emphasized, last Saturday, the need to complete the procedures for resuming the export of oil produced in the Kurdistan Region through the Ceyhan port, according to the mechanisms specified in the budget law and its amendment, and within the production ceiling specified for Iraq in the “OPEC” organization.

Earlier, the official agency quoted Oil Minister Hayan Abdul Ghani as stating that “the oil export pipeline to Ceyhan port is ready, and there are some technical matters that need to be reorganized to resume exports.”