Anticipation of a US decision against Türkiye requiring it to pay $602 million to Iraq

Over the weekend, the “Iraq Oil Report” website uncovered a new update regarding the export of oil from Iraqi Kurdistan Region to the Turkish port of Ceyhan. According to news translated by Shafaq News Agency, Iraq is currently pursuing legal action to enforce a significant arbitration award against Turkey. This move aims to secure a favorable ruling worth $601.9 million in favor of Iraq from an American court.
According to his explanation, the recent actions taken by Iraq suggest that there hasn’t been enough progress in the diplomatic negotiations between Baghdad and Ankara to reopen the Kurdistan Region’s oil export pipeline through Turkey. Despite technical discussions in mid-September, there seems to be no clear indication of resuming export operations. This update comes after the United States has given assurances that they will continue to work with all parties involved to reopen the oil pipeline between Iraq and Turkey soon.
The Minister of Energy for Turkey, Alp Arslan Bayrakdar, announced on September 15 that the inspection of the oil pipeline from the Kurdistan Region to the port of Ceyhan has been completed. He also confirmed that the pipeline will soon be ready for operation. In March 25, Turkey had stopped the flows through the pipeline located in the Kurdistan Region due to a ruling in an arbitration case issued by the International Chamber of Commerce. The case had ordered Ankara to pay compensation to Baghdad for exporting oil through the Kurdistan Region without referring to the federal government between 2014 and 2018.
Following the decision, Turkey commenced maintenance work on the pipeline that goes through a seismically active area. The country claims that the pipeline was damaged due to floods caused by the devastating earthquake that hit the southern region on February 6. Last August, the Kurdistan Region Oil Industry Association reported that the suspension of exports to the Turkish port of Ceyhan resulted in losses of approximately $4 billion for producers and the Iraqi government. This was due to the producers being compelled to decrease production as the flow of oil through the pipeline was halted.