Turkey and Iraq signed a new one-year contract to transfer Iraq’s oil from Turkey’s Ceyhan port to global markets.

Under this agreement, the daily transfer of 750,000 barrels of Iraq’s oil from the Kirkuk–Ceyhan pipeline is envisaged. At present, 170,000 barrels per day are being transported through this pipeline, whose nominal daily transfer capacity is 1.5 million barrels.

Alparslan Bayraktar, Turkey’s Minister of Energy, said on Saturday at the signing ceremony of the Iraq oil transit contract that in times of crisis in the Strait of Hormuz, this pipeline could be of special importance as an alternative route for transporting oil from the region.

Recently, Turkey’s oil company signed a 15% stake in five oil fields in the Kirkuk region of Iraq, with 3 billion barrels of oil reserves. Iraq has also reached an agreement with Syria regarding the restoration of the Kirkuk–Baniyas oil pipeline.