Iraq reopens the Kirkuk-Ceyhan oil pipeline in competition with the Kurds
Iraq’s Deputy Oil Minister said on Monday that Baghdad is repairing a pipeline that can send 350,000 barrels of crude oil per day to Turkey by the end of this month.
Reuters news agency, reporting this in an exclusive report, wrote that this move by the Baghdad government will likely upset foreign oil companies and the Kurdistan Regional Government.
The reopening of the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline, which has been closed for a decade, creates a rival route to another pipeline that passes through the Kurdistan region. This pipeline has now been closed for a year because negotiations between Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government regarding the resumption of oil exports have stalled.
Baghdad does not recognize the investment and production-sharing agreements between the Kurds and foreign companies that use the Kurdistan Regional Government’s pipeline and considers them illegal.