BAGHDAD, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Iraq signed a one-year agreement with Türkiye on Saturday to transport and load Iraqi crude oil through the Iraq-Türkiye pipeline to the Turkish port of Ceyhan, the Iraqi Oil Ministry said.
Under the agreement, Iraq will export a minimum quantity of 750,000 barrels per day of crude oil through the pipeline, Iraqi Oil Minister Basim Mohammed Khudhair said in a statement issued by the ministry's media office.
"Iraqi and Turkish companies will begin implementing the agreement, while the two governments will move forward, through a carefully planned process, to finalize a comprehensive framework agreement covering the oil, electricity, and water resources sectors, along with other areas of cooperation that advance our shared interests and support development and stability," Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi said on his X page.
This pipeline, which safely and uninterruptedly delivers Iraqi oil to world markets via Ceyhan, has a more strategic position than ever before in terms of regional and global energy supply security, as demonstrated by developments in the global oil markets, Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said on X.
The agreement comes after the decades-old accord governing Iraqi oil exports through Ceyhan expired on Monday, as Baghdad seeks to secure alternative export routes to diversify its channels amid ongoing regional tensions impacting shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iraq's economy relies heavily on crude oil exports, which account for about 90 percent of the country's revenues. ■
