Turkey, Iraq extend pipeline agreement

ISTANBUL:

Ankara and Baghdad on Saturday agreed to extend an oil pipeline agreement by one year, just days after a top-level visit by Iraqi Prime Ali al-Zaidi, officials on both sides said.

In a post on X, Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said the agreement was signed following a "productive meeting" in Ankara with Iraqi Oil Minister Bassem Mohammed Khudair.

Zaidi also hailed the deal in a post on X, describing it as "an important strategic milestone" which would involve "a minimum export capacity of 750,000 barrels per day".

The decades-old agreement on the pipeline -- which carries Iraqi crude to Turkey's Mediterranean export terminal of Ceyhan, a key outlet for regional oil shipments -- had expired on Monday.

"While our efforts continue toward a new long-term agreement for this pipeline.. we have implemented this transit arrangement covering a daily capacity of 750,000 barrels," Bayraktar wrote.

Zaidi said Iraqi and Turkish companies would begin implementing the agreement.