Turkey-Iraq pipeline deal extended by one year

Turkey and Iraq agreed on Saturday to extend an oil pipeline agreement by one year, officials from both countries said, days after a top-level Iraqi visit to Ankara.

Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said the agreement was signed after a meeting in Ankara with Iraqi Oil Minister Bassem Mohammed Khudair. Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi described the deal as an important strategic milestone and said it would involve a minimum export capacity of 750,000 barrels per day.

The agreement covers the pipeline that carries Iraqi crude to Turkey's Mediterranean export terminal of Ceyhan. The decades-old arrangement had expired on Monday.

Bayraktar said Turkey and Iraq were still working on a new long-term agreement for the pipeline, while implementing the transit arrangement covering daily capacity of 750,000 barrels.

Zaidi said Iraqi and Turkish companies would begin implementing the agreement while the two governments continued efforts to finalise a broader framework covering oil, electricity and water resources.

The Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline has a maximum capacity of about 1.5 million barrels per day, although actual flows have been well below that in recent years.