Iraq and Turkey Sign One-Year Kirkuk-Ceyhan Pipeline Deal to Sustain Oil Exports

Turkey's state pipeline operator BOTAS and Iraq's state oil firms SOMO and NOC signed a one-year interim transit agreement on August 1, 2026, days after the original 1973 Iraq-Turkey Pipeline (ITP) treaty expired on July 27. The deal sets transit capacity at 750,000 bpd through the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline, though actual flow remains far below that ceiling — roughly 170,000 bpd, mostly from Kurdistan Region fields — as Baghdad and Erbil work through separate revenue-sharing issues. Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said the arrangement bridges the gap 'while our efforts continue toward a new long-term agreement for this pipeline.' PM Ali al-Zaidi called the signing 'an important strategic milestone,' as Iraq continues to lean on the northern export route to partially offset the Strait of Hormuz blockade that cut southern Gulf exports by roughly two-thirds since February 2026.