Shafaq News/ Iraq’s oil exports are nearing a remarkable breakthrough into the European Union market, as the Czech Republic looks to join other EU nations in banning Russian crude in response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, during a joint press conference with Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský, announced that Iraqi oil will begin to replace Russian supplies starting in 2025.
According to US-based Energy Intelligence, the Iraqi oil will be transported to the Czech Republic via oil tankers, followed by the TAL pipeline, which stretches from Italy to Germany and connects with the IKL pipeline, supplying Czech oil needs.
This development comes despite the Czech Republic’s ongoing dependence on Russian oil, which accounted for 49% of total imports in the first quarter of 2024, 60% in 2023, and 56% in 2022.
Prague is banking on the TAL pipeline to end its reliance on Russian oil, which was the primary source of imports in 2023.
Last year, the Czech Republic imported over 4.3 million tonnes of oil from Russia (equivalent to 30.5 million barrels), two million tons (14.3 million barrels) from Azerbaijan, and 556,000 tons (3.9 million barrels) from Kazakhstan.
(1 ton of oil = 7.1 barrels).