Ankara sends Baghdad a draft of a new oil agreement: The current situation does not meet our expectations.
Ankara sends Baghdad a draft of a new oil agreement: The current situation does not meet our expectations.
2025-08-15 04:07
Shafaq News – Special Translation
Turkey’s Energy Ministry announced on Friday that Ankara is seeking to conclude a new pipeline agreement with Iraq, confirming that it recently informed Baghdad that the current oil export agreement no longer “meets ambition.”
Turkey Today quoted Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar, in a statement translated by Shafaq News Agency, as saying, “The pipeline with Iraq has a capacity of 1.5 million barrels per day, but it has not been operating at full capacity for 50 years.”
He added, “We recently informed the Iraqi government that the current agreement no longer meets expectations and does not respond to the world’s energy needs today, and we have sent a new draft agreement.” He stressed, “We are currently reviewing the structure of the new draft, and I hope the technical teams will meet soon to begin negotiations on the new agreement.”
The Turkish minister emphasized that “the Iraqi government’s goal is to fully exploit this pipeline,” explaining that “Turkey’s oil and gas exploration and production strategy focuses on domestic production while evaluating opportunities abroad, especially since it currently produces very small quantities of oil in Iraq.”
Turkish sources had previously revealed that negotiations had begun between Ankara and Baghdad to reach a new, more comprehensive oil transport agreement. A Turkish presidential decree published in the Official Gazette on July 21 indicated that the current agreement, signed between the two countries in 1973, would expire on July 27, 2026.
shafaq.com
