Iraq-Turkiye oil pipeline will not restart over disagreements: Iraq PM

Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani in Baghdad on January 9, 2024 [MURTADA AL-SUDANI/POOL/AFP via Getty Images]

Iraqi Prime Minister, Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, has said that disagreements over payments with producers are further delaying the reopening of a key pipeline, Bloomberg reports.

According to the report, the closure of the northern Iraq-to-Turkiye pipeline has resulted in a monthly revenue loss of almost $1bn (ID1.31trn) for the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and companies in the region.

During an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Al-Sudani said that the oil companies “have an issue with the cost of producing barrels”.

Turkiye shut down the pipeline in March 2023, following an order from an arbitration court asking it to pay $1.5bn to Iraq in compensation for transporting oil without Baghdad’s approval.

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