Iraq says it has had no Turkish reply on northern oil exports
(Reuters) - Iraq has not heard back from Turkish state energy company BOTAS on a request to restart oil export flows through a pipeline that runs from the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region in northern Iraq to the Turkish port of Ceyhan, the country's oil minister said.
Should the flow of oil resume on Saturday as the ministry has requested, Iraq would pump 500,000 barrels per day, Oil Minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani told reporters during a visit to a southern oilfield in Basra on Friday.
Turkey halted 450,000 barrels per day (bpd) of northern exports through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline on March 25 after an International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) arbitration ruling.
The ICC ordered Turkey to pay Baghdad damages of $1.5 B for unauthorized exports by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) between 2014 and 2018.
It is not clear when flows will resume.
Turkey has sought negotiations relating to the damages it was ordered to pay in the case and wants a permanent resolution to open arbitration issues before resuming flows, sources previously told Reuters.
Turkey also has presidential elections on May 14, which some observers believe could lead to delays.
Iraq made its request to BOTAS after traders buying crude from the Kurdistan region signed contracts with Iraq's state-owned crude marketer SOMO.
The KRG has agreed for SOMO to market its crude oil. Its export revenue will be deposited in an existing KRG bank account with Citi in the United Arab Emirates, three sources familiar with the matter previously said, and Baghdad will have auditing access.
SOMO also had to iron out contracts with buyers of KRG crude. The newly signed contracts are for a period of up to three months but do not address the vast amount of debt that the KRG owes trading firms, one of the three sources said.
Basim Mohammed, Iraqi deputy oil minister for upstream affairs, told Reuters the issue of KRG debts "will be discussed with the region (KRG) through the ministries of oil and finance."
"The Iraqi government is serious about reaching an agreement that is satisfactory for both parties," he said.
Producers in the region have called for the KRG to prioritize debt repayment, making transparency and regularity of payments conditions for new investments and maximum export flows once the pipeline reopens, an industry source previously said.
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