ANKARA: Oil exports from Iraqi Kurdistan to Turkey could start next month, the region’s prime minister said yesterday as he held talks in Ankara on planned energy tie-ups that are likely to anger Baghdad.
Kurdish authorities in Iraq are seeking ways of selling their oil on international markets outside the control of Baghdad but a lingering dispute with the central government has paralysed development of new oil and gas projects in the region.
Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani told reporters that a pipeline from the Kurdish region could start carrying oil “before Christmas”, without elaborating.
He held a three-hour meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Energy Minister Taner Yildiz yesterday for discussions about comprehensive energy deals between Ankara and Arbil. The pipeline project to Turkey is projected to carry up to 300,000 barrels per day (b/d), a fraction of the total 2.25m b/d Iraq exported in October.
Turkey, which is dependent on Russia and Iran to meet its growing energy needs, is seeking to secure affordable oil and gas supplies from elsewhere, with Kurdistan seen as the best option.
“We told Iraqi Kurds that if they bring their oil to the border, we will buy it,” a government official said. But the move risks aggravating tensions in the powderkeg region and harming relations with Baghdad.
Turkey has been developing ties with Iraqi Kurdistan, and Erdogan held talks with Kurdish leader Massud Barzani in Turkey’s own Kurdish dominated southeast earlier this month.
In the past, Turkey refused to engage in official contacts with Iraqi Kurds, fearing the establishment of an independent Kurdish state there could embolden its own Kurds.
But as Turkey’s economy has boomed and its thirst for energy grown, Erdogan’s government has moved to forge trade ties with Iraqi Kurds. In an address during Barzani’s visit, Erdogan for the first time referred to the autonomous region in northern Iraq as “Kurdistan”, a long taboo word in Turkey.
Ankara is however also keen on repairing ties with Baghdad, which have been strained for several years, and has offered to mediate in the oil dispute. Yildiz said last week that Ankara could serve as an independent intermediary by having Iraq’s oil revenues deposited into an escrow account at a Turkish state bank. Both Baghdad and Kurdistan would have full information on the funds and would decide between themselves on how to divide the revenue.
AFP
