Türkiye opposes extending the oil pipeline agreement with Iraq.
Türkiye opposes extending the oil pipeline agreement with Iraq.
2026-06-16
Shafaq News – Ankara
A senior Turkish official said on Tuesday that Ankara does not want to extend the existing Ceyhan-Kirkuk oil pipeline agreement under the current circumstances, after Baghdad requested an extension of at least one year to allow time for further talks.
When asked about the Iraqi request for an extension, the Turkish official told Reuters: “There is no point in extending an agreement that was subject to arbitration.”
Iraq had asked Turkey on Monday to extend the Kirkuk-Ceyhan oil pipeline agreement for at least a year, in a move aimed at giving both sides more time to negotiate a new agreement regulating oil exports through this vital route.
Reuters quoted Ali Nizar, head of Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO), as saying that Baghdad had made a formal request to Ankara for additional time to complete talks on an alternative agreement covering one of the most important routes for exporting Iraqi oil.
Nizar added that Iraq has exported about 12 million barrels of crude oil through its southern ports since the beginning of June until now.
The current agreement for the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline expires on July 27, after decades of regulating oil exports between Iraq and Turkey, while the two sides continue to discuss a draft of a new agreement governing export operations in the next phase.
shafaq.com
