Shafaq News / Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar declared on Thursday that the crude oil pipelines from the Kurdistan Region to Turkish ports are ready to operate starting from next Wednesday. He confirmed that Turkey is gearing up to commence oil shipments.

Turkey had halted the flow of oil from the region following a ruling by the International Chamber of Commerce, which compelled Ankara to pay compensations to Baghdad for unauthorized exports between 2014 and 2018. Kurdistan Region used to export nearly 450,000 barrels of crude oil daily before the pipeline shutdown. Ankara subsequently initiated maintenance work on the pipeline, responsible for about 0.5% of the world's oil supplies.

In an interview with Turkish channel "NTV," Bayraktar stated, "There are no longer any obstacles hindering the flow of Iraqi oil to the global markets." He had earlier announced on the sidelines of the "ADIPEC 2023" conference in Abu Dhabi that Turkey would start operating the Iraqi-Turkish oil pipeline this week, capable of transporting approximately half a million barrels to international markets.

He continued, emphasizing that his country constitutes a reliable transit route for oil and gas transportation.

In a related context, an Iraqi oil official, quoted by Reuters two days ago, stated that discussions aimed at resuming Iraqi oil exports through a pipeline passing through Turkey are still ongoing.