Iraq and Turkiye have announced the start of negotiations on a framework agreement for cooperation in oil and gas, according to the Iraqi News Agency (INA).
– Iraqi Oil Minister Bassem Mohammed Khudair and Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar met in Ankara on Friday.
– A statement from Iraq’s Oil Ministry said the meeting discussed the proposed roadmap for enhancing bilateral cooperation in developing infrastructure for the oil and gas sectors, the petrochemical industry and trade in oil, gas and energy, INA said.
– The push for a deeper strategic partnership follows severe disruptions to Iraqi oil exports, which collapsed by more than 80 percent after the war on Iran closed the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
– To bypass these blockages, both nations are now leaning on alternative transit routes. In August, the two countries signed a one-year agreement between the Turkish state firm BOTAS and Iraq’s state oil companies SOMO and NOC to increase crude flows through the Kirkuk-Ceyhan oil pipeline.
– As Iraqi and Turkish companies began their cooperation, Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi said in August that the two governments would work to “complete a framework agreement that includes sectors such as oil, electricity, water resources, and other areas of cooperation”.
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