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Iraq and Kurdistan have agreed to resume oil exports via Turkey

Iraq and Kurdistan have agreed to resume oil exports via Turkey

18 March 2026, 12:38

Iraq and Kurdistan have agreed to resume oil exports via Turkey — Supplies of raw materials will resume as early as 18 March. Photo: depositphotos

Iraq, the second-largest member of OPEC+, has found an alternative to the closed Strait of Hormuz by agreeing to resume oil transit via the Kurdish section of the pipeline.

Bloomberg reports this.

Supplies will resume on 18 March at 10:00 local time, Iraq’s Oil Minister Hayan Abdul-Ghani has announced.

The pipeline transports oil from fields in Kurdistan and Kirkuk to the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan in Turkey – a location far from the conflict-ridden Persian Gulf. Oil supplies via the pipeline network were suspended earlier this month due to a series of precautionary measures.

Iraq is capable of shipping at least 150–200 thousand barrels of oil per day from Kirkuk, as well as 210 thousand barrels per day from Kurdistan via the northern pipeline, Abdul-Ghani previously reported.

According to the minister, Iraq is currently producing between 1.3 and 1.4 million barrels per day, whereas prior to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz it was producing 4.3 million barrels.

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