Iraq acts to renew Turkish pipeline deal before July deadline

• Forms committee for talks with Ankara
• Kirkuk-Ceyhan pact ends on July 27
• Iran war increased route’s importance

Iraq has formed a government committee to negotiate a new oil pipeline agreement with Turkey before a decades-old accord expires next month. Baghdad is seeking to secure an alternative export outlet to the restricted Strait of Hormuz.

In July 2025, Ankara informed Baghdad that it had decided to terminate the 52-year-old pact governing the pipeline that carries Iraqi crude from Kirkuk to Ceyhan for export to Europe and other markets. Turkey announced that the pact would no longer be in effect from July 27 this year and that a new agreement is needed.

In addition to the oil ministry, the new committee includes officials from the Iraqi ministries of finance and foreign affairs, as well as representatives from the Kurdistan region, according to Salim Al-Rakabi, an oil ministry spokesperson.

“This committee will manage negotiations with the Turkish side regarding the drafting of a new agreement to replace the current one for regulating crude oil exports from Iraq into Turkey,” Al-Rakabi told the official daily Al-Sabah on Sunday.

“The committee is working to reach clear understandings that include the continuation of crude oil exports via the Iraqi-Turkish pipeline, thus maintaining the stability of oil exports to global markets.”

The official warned that the approaching expiration of the current pact necessitates accelerating the “pace of discussions” between the two countries to ensure there are no interruptions or disruptions to export operations.

Turkey presented Iraq, Opec’s second-largest oil producer, with a more comprehensive draft pact last year, covering the pipeline and cooperation in energy and other sectors. Officials in Baghdad said at the time that they were studying the proposal.

Turkey decided to nullify the pipeline pact when Iraq was exporting most of its crude from southern fields via the Strait of Hormuz. Iran shut the narrow waterway during its war with the US and Israel before it partially reopened this month. With the waterway still restricted, Iraq’s oil exports are now a third of pre-war levels.

“Following the recent developments in the region, Iraq needs a good agreement with Turkey, which could become a major outlet [because Iraq] appears to be relying more on pipelines,” said Hamza Jawahri, a former oil engineer in the state-owned Basra Oil company.

Further reading:

• James Drummond: Iraq urgently needs to find ways of getting its oil to market
• Investors back Iraq’s long‑term potential
• Iraq to sign deal in the US to revive Syria oil pipeline

Iraq’s prime minister, Ali Al-Zaidi, is scheduled to visit Ankara next month for talks on a new pipeline deal and other issues, the official news agency reported.

Iraq resumed crude exports of about 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) through the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline in March, offsetting the halt in shipments via the Strait of Hormuz.

But that amount is a fraction of the country’s export potential of more than 4 million bpd. In the first four months of 2026, Iraq’s oil exports stood at about 236 million barrels (1.9 million bpd), fetching about $16 billion, according to the State Oil Marketing Organization.