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KT News:
The Kurdistan Region will next month start pumping oil to Turkey via an existing pipeline controlled by Iraq, according to a Bloomsburg report which says this signals an easing of prolonged tensions over oil between the Baghdad central government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
The oil will be pumped from Dohuk to Fishkabur on the Turkish border where it will feed into the Iraq-controlled pipeline running to Turkey’s Mediterranean port of Ceyhan. Iraqi officials told reporters that they initially expect 150,000 barrels per day (bpd) from the Kurdish oil fields. The link has a capacity of 300,000 bpd. Currently the Kurdistan Region exports 30,000 to 50,000 barrels a day to Turkey in trucks.
However, Baghdad has rejected a Turkish proposal to resolve the prolonged Erbil-Baghdad dispute over oil revenues by making payments into an escrow account and the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) is planning to complete a pipeline that will bypass the Baghdad-run network.
Ashti Hawrami, the KRG natural resources minister, last month announced that Kurd oil production could increase to one million bpd by the end of 2015 and two million bpd by 2020.
Whichever way the oil flows, the people will not see its revenue!