Iraq negotiates with Iran for safe oil tanker passage through Hormuz and revives a key pipeline to Turkey as export routes face Middle East conflict disruptions.
DUBAI: Iraq is negotiating with Iran to secure safe passage for its oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz.
The talks aim to ease disruptions to crude exports following recent attacks on tankers in Iraqi waters, the state news agency reported.
Iraq is also working to restore a disused pipeline to pump oil directly to Turkey’s Ceyhan port.
Oil Minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani said this route would bypass the Kurdistan region entirely.
An inspection of a 100-km section of the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline will be completed within a week.
This will enable direct exports from the Kirkuk oil fields, Abdel-Ghani added in a video statement.
The pipeline’s reopening offers a crucial alternative export route.
Shipping through the strategic Strait of Hormuz is severely disrupted by the ongoing Middle East conflict.
Exports via the 960-km pipeline were halted in 2014 after repeated attacks by Islamic State militants.
It once handled about 0.5% of global oil supply.
The oil ministry stated exports via this route could initially reach around 250,000 barrels per day.
This could rise to about 450,000 bpd if crude from fields in the Kurdistan region is included.
Baghdad has sought to use the Kurdistan pipeline as a temporary route for crude flows.
However, it accused the Kurdistan Regional Government of setting arbitrary conditions for its use.
Iraq warned it may take legal action if exports are blocked by the Kurdish authorities.
Kurdish authorities have rejected these accusations outright.
They stated they are not obstructing exports and that Baghdad has failed to address security and economic challenges facing the region’s oil sector.
