Kerkuk oil pipeline: “There is no light at the end of the export pipeline

Source:Bloomberg Date:18Aug2023

International companies operating in the Kurdish region have been forced to cut output after a payments dispute between Iraq and Turkey cut off the main export route. Most of the barrels produced in Iraq’s north, which accounts for about a 10th of the country’s overall production, are piped to the Turkish port of Ceyhan on the Mediterranean.

“There is no light at the end of the export pipeline,” DNO Executive Chairman Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani was quoted as saying in the statement. The company is selling half of Tawke’s output to the Kurdish government, with the rest going to local traders, who are taking the oil by truck. DNO said it’s getting about half as much of the oil as it did before the pipeline closure.

Restarting the pipeline will likely be on the agenda during an upcoming visit by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Baghdad. The Iraqi government announced the visit without saying when it will take place, while the Turks have yet to confirm a trip. Ankara wants to negotiate a settlement before reopening the link, people familiar with the matter have said.