The Turkish Minister of Energy, Alp Arslan Bayraktar, announced on Friday that the inspection of the oil pipeline from the Kurdistan region to the port of Ceyhan has been completed and the line will be technically ready for operation soon.
During a press briefing, Bayrakdar announced that an independent survey company has finished their work and is currently preparing a report. However, he did not specify a date for the resumption of oil flow through the affected line.
On March 25, Turkey ceased the flows through a pipeline located in the Kurdistan region. This was a result of an arbitration ruling issued by the International Chamber of Commerce, which ordered Ankara to pay compensation to Baghdad. The compensation was due to Turkey’s export of oil through the Kurdistan region without consulting the federal government between 2014 and 2018.
After the decision, Turkey performed maintenance on a pipeline passing through a seismically active area. The country claimed that the pipeline was damaged by floods caused by the earthquake that hit the southern region on February 6.
It’s worth noting that in late August, the Oil Industry Association in the Kurdistan Region reported that halting exports to the Turkish port of Ceyhan resulted in losses of approximately $4 billion for both producers in the region and the Iraqi government. This was because the producers were forced to decrease their production due to the pipeline’s oil flow being stopped.
