Iraq to reroute 750,000 barrels of oil daily via Turkey, bypassing Hormuz

Turkey and Iraq have initiated a new phase of energy cooperation by signing a one-year agreement to transport crude oil through a pipeline connecting Iraqi oil fields to Turkey's Mediterranean port of Ceyhan. The deal, signed in Ankara on August 1, 2026, follows the expiration of a long-standing intergovernmental arrangement on July 27, 2026. This interim agreement ensures the continuous flow of oil while both nations negotiate a broader, long-term energy partnership.

The agreement was executed between Turkey's state-owned pipeline company, BOTAŞ, and Iraq's State Organization for Marketing of Oil (SOMO) and North Oil Company (NOC). Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar and Iraqi Minister of Oil Basim Mohammed Khudair were present for the signing ceremony.

Under the new accord, the Silopi-Ceyhan transmission system has an allocated capacity of 750,000 barrels per day for SOMO and NOC. However, this figure represents available capacity under the contract, not a guarantee of daily pumping. Turkish Energy Ministry data indicates current actual flow through the pipeline is around 170,000 barrels per day. The ministry clarified that the 750,000 barrels figure refers to the capacity "allocated" to Iraqi state companies, meaning actual shipments depend on field production, infrastructure readiness, sales contracts, security, and Baghdad's relations with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).

This agreement does not involve the construction of a new pipeline. Instead, it revitalizes a corridor that has been operational for nearly half a century, since the initial pipeline agreement was signed on August 27, 1973. The first line began operating in 1976, with the first tanker shipment from Ceyhan in May 1977. The network now consists of two lines with a combined capacity of approximately 1.5 million barrels per day, much of which remains idle given the current actual flow. The one-year deal is thus more accurately understood as a new legal and commercial pathway to reactivate an old corridor previously hindered by political, legal, and business disputes.