Ankara’s proposal ties its investment to compensation for heavy losses stemming from the halt of the Kirkuk–Ceyhan pipeline. Crude flows were suspended in March 2023 after an international arbitration court ordered Turkiye to pay Iraq $1.5 billion in damages for unauthorized Kurdish exports between 2014 and 2018. Since then, Baghdad is estimated to have lost $22–25 billion in revenue, while Turkiye has absorbed at least $400 million in lost transit fees and continues to shoulder about $25 million a month in maintenance costs through its state pipeline company, BOTAŞ.
The draft also links oil and economic cooperation to the release of Iraq’s water quota from Turkiye, alongside calls to expand bilateral trade and raise crude exports through Ceyhan.
Official delegations from both countries are expected to exchange visits in the coming weeks to finalize terms, as the current transit agreement expires next year, the source revealed.
Exports from the Kurdistan Region to Ceyhan resumed on September 27 after a suspension of more than two years, with about 190,000 barrels per day now moving under a tripartite deal between Baghdad, Erbil, and international operators, handled by Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO).
(Shafaq News, October 1, 2025)