Turkish President: Iraq Energy Cooperation Deal Sought

President Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that Turkey aimed to sign a comprehensive energy cooperation deal with neighbouring Iraq as soon as possible after he held talks with Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi in Ankara.

Speaking at a joint news conference after a signing ceremony that had been expected to feature a deal to keep the Kirkuk-Ceyhan crude oil pipeline open for another year, Erdogan said Turkey's state-owned oil and gas company TPAO would operate in the Kirkuk oilfield used by BP. The sides did not sign the deal to extend the decades-old pipeline agreement, which governs exports through the pipeline and officially expired on Monday.

After signing three accords on cooperation in various fields, Erdogan said more agreements were expected, only for his ministers to abruptly brief him on stage and for the two leaders to then proceed to their remarks without further signatures.

"The Iraq-Turkey crude oil pipeline agreement ended yesterday. Our aim is to sign a comprehensive energy cooperation agreement that will benefit both sides as soon as possible," Erdogan said.

In a statement on X, Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said TPAO had acquired a 15% stake in BP Energy Company of Kirkuk Limited (BPECKL), adding that this would allow the Turkish company to operate in the field.

"It will work together with BPECKL partners to bring the approximately 3 billion barrel reserve potential into production," Bayraktar said. BP confirmed the deal and said it welcomed the partnership with TPAO.