Iraq and Turkey have started talks on a framework agreement for cooperation in oil and gas. According to Iraq’s official news agency, in this regard Bassem Mohammed Khudair, Iraq’s Minister of Oil, and Alparslan Bayraktar, Turkey’s Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, met in Ankara on Friday.

The Iraqi Ministry of Oil said in a statement that the meeting reviewed a proposed roadmap to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the development of oil and gas infrastructure, the petrochemical industry, and energy trade.

This effort comes after severe disruption to Iraq’s oil exports. After the Strait of Hormuz was closed in the U.S.’s war with the Islamic Republic, the country’s exports fell by more than 80%.

The two countries are now relying on alternative transit routes to bypass these obstacles. In Mordad, a one-year contract was signed between Turkey’s state-owned company BOTAS and Iraq’s state oil companies to increase the flow of crude oil from the Kirkuk pipeline to Ceyhan.

In Mordad, Iraq’s prime minister, Alí Al-Zeidi, said the two governments are working to complete a framework agreement that includes oil, electricity, water resources, and other areas of cooperation.