ERBIL — The repairs on the Iraq-Turkey oil pipeline were successfully concluded on Wednesday, following the federal government directives, oil exports from the Kirkuk oilfields to the Turkish port of Ceyhan will resume.

The North Oil Company (NOC) undertook extensive efforts to rebuild the pipeline after it was destroyed by the Islamic State (IS) militants, focusing on areas spanning Nineveh, Salah Al-Din, and Kirkuk provinces. Over recent months, damaged sections were replaced and repairs completed, rendering the pipeline operational once again.

The pipeline is now poised to transport crude oil as per the specifications outlined by the Iraqi Ministry of Oil, facilitating the resumption of exports from Kirkuk's oilfields to Turkey's Ceyhan port. In early October 2023, Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar confirmed the readiness of the pipeline for operation, signaling Ankara's readiness to receive oil shipments.

Turkey halted oil flows through the Kurdistan Region in March 2023 following an ICC ruling that mandated Ankara to compensate Baghdad with $1.5 billion for unauthorized oil exports spanning 2014 to 2018. Prior to the pipeline's closure, the Kurdistan region of Iraq exported approximately 450,000 barrels of crude oil daily through this route. Ankara subsequently initiated maintenance work on the pipeline, which plays a crucial role in transporting around 0.5 percent of global oil supplies.