Turkiye takes ‘historic step’ on energy alliance with Iraq

Ankara could receive 1 million barrels per day of Iraqi oil after a Turkish Petroleum stake in the BP-run Kirkuk oilfield.Turkiye might soon receive up to 1 million barrels per day of oil from Iraq after buying a stake in the British Petroleum-run Kirkuk oilfield in northern Iraq, according to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.At a joint news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi in Ankara on Tuesday, Erdogan said state-owned Turkish Petroleum (TPOA) would acquire a 15 percent stake in BP Energy Company of Kirkuk Limited under a separate share‑transfer agreement.Al-Zaidi was in Turkiye to discuss bilateral security, trade, transport and water management, as well as a new energy deal.The visit came just as the Iraq-Turkiye crude oil agreement – which in 1975 operationalised the Kirkuk-Ceyhan-oil-pipeline" class="entity-link entity-location" data-entity-id="173699" data-entity-type="location">Kirkuk-Ceyhan Oil Pipeline moving Iraqi crude to the Turkish Mediterranean terminal of Ceyhan – expired on July 27.Rather than renew the agreement, Turkiye said it was seeking a new energy cooperation framework with Iraq.Erdogan confirmed that al-Zaidi had offered to supply Turkiye with 1 million bpd. “Yes, that’s correct. Once we transfer 1 million barrels of oil from our neighbour Iraq, it will meet our needs”, he said.‘Diversifying the sources’“The significance of this deal is beyond mere energy ties,” Mehmet Celik, editorial coordinator for Daily Sabah, told Al Jazeera.“Turkiye is diversifying its energy sources, as it has always done. But with Iraq, there are two other dimensions: security and the development road project.”“This is not an alternative to existing deals, but rather diversifying the sources, as far as Turkiye is concerned,” he said, adding that “the situation in Hormuz has made Turkiye’s proposals regarding alternative energy and trade routes more attractive.”