Turkey and Iraq sign deal to transport 750,000 barrels of oil per day

Turkey and Iraq have signed a one-year oil agreement to transport 750,000 barrels per day through the pipeline between the two countries, aiming to ensure efficient use of the line and enhance energy supply security for global markets. Turkey's BOTAŞ signed the agreement with SOMO and Iraq's North Oil Company. Turkish Minister Alparslan Bayraktar stressed that the line supports global oil supply security and serves as an alternative route amid the Hormuz crisis. Turkey seeks full utilization of the line's 1.5 million barrels per day capacity, with potential future transport of Kuwaiti and Gulf oil.

Turkey and Iraq signed a one-year oil agreement on Saturday, August 1, 2026, to transport 750,000 barrels per day through the pipeline extending between the two countries, aiming to ensure efficient use of the oil line and enhance energy supply security for global markets. Turkey's Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources stated in a statement that Minister Alparslan Bayraktar met with Iraqi Oil Minister Basim Mohammed Khudair and his accompanying delegation at the ministry headquarters in Ankara. Following the meeting, Turkey's pipeline and oil transport company BOTAŞ signed an agreement to transport crude oil with Iraq's oil marketing company SOMO and Iraq's North Oil Company. The Iraq-Turkey crude oil pipeline has served as a strategic energy corridor between the two countries for nearly half a century. The Turkish Energy Ministry's statement quoted Minister Bayraktar as emphasizing that the pipeline not only contributes to trade relations between the two countries but also supports the security of supply for global oil markets. Bayraktar added that the line holds exceptional importance as an alternative route in a world facing the Hormuz crisis, with 20 million barrels stranded in the Gulf. He explained that Turkey has been operating two lines extending from Silopi to Ceyhan for nearly 50 years. He noted that BOTAŞ operates the line, along with storage and loading operations in Ceyhan. Bayraktar said Turkey aims to fully utilize the line's 1.5 million barrels per day capacity, with the goal of transporting oil coming from Iraq, along with oil that may arrive in the future from Kuwait and other Gulf states, to global markets via this route. He pointed out that Turkish refineries have been designed for years to process the region's oil, with Iraqi and Kirkuk oil among the most used crude types. Bayraktar had previously discussed the pipeline file in Baghdad on July 9 with Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, who visited Ankara on July 28. On the same day as al-Zaidi's visit to Ankara, Turkish Petroleum Corporation acquired a 15 percent stake in a BP subsidiary based in Kirkuk.