Iraqi Oil Flows to Ceyhan Reach 500,000 Barrels a Day, Up 43%

Key Facts

Iraqi oil exports through the Turkish port of Ceyhan reached 500,000 barrels a day in November, according to a source at the North Oil Company cited by Kurdistan 24, the highest level since flows resumed through the network. The source said Iraq’s State Organization for Marketing of Oil (SOMO) is sending the volume through the Kurdistan Region pipeline, including Kirkuk, Kurdistan Region and Basra crude. No official confirmed the figure, leaving it as an estimate attributed to a company source. The increase comes as Baghdad seeks to diversify crude export routes and reduce its reliance on shipments through the Gulf. Reported flows rose from 350,000 to 500,000 barrels a day, an increase of about 43%, according to three North Oil Company sources cited by Shafaq News.

The shipment breakdown points to a growing role for oil from the south in the northern route. Basra supplies about 200,000 barrels a day, or 40% of total reported flows, according to Shafaq News. The Kurdistan Region’s fields are next, supplying 175,000 barrels a day, or 35%. Kirkuk fields, operated by the North Oil Company, contribute about 125,000 barrels a day, equivalent to 25%. The Ceyhan pipeline therefore carries crude from three Iraqi sources, with Basra oil making up the largest share of reported flows.

Iraq began trucking Basra crude to the Khurmala field in the Kurdistan Region, where the oil enters the northern pipeline system bound for Ceyhan, according to Shafaq News. The arrangement allows crude produced in the south to reach a northern export route instead of relying exclusively on Gulf terminals. This comes as shipping disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz have prompted Baghdad to bolster the flexibility of its export infrastructure, according to the Associated Press. Before the conflict, most of the country’s exports passed through southern terminals and then the strait, the agency reported. Iraq exported about 3.5 million barrels of crude a day before the conflict, most of it shipped through southern ports, the agency said.

The reported Ceyhan figures form part of broader efforts to restore Iraqi flows through all export routes. Kurdistan 24 cited Oil Minister Bassim al-Abadi as saying on October 19 that the country’s exports through all routes had exceeded 3.4 million barrels a day since the start of the month. That total differs from the Ceyhan figure, which covers flows through the pipeline to the Turkish port. Reaching 500,000 barrels a day also does not meet the minimum specified in the Iraqi-Turkish agreement. SOMO said the agreement signed in August set a minimum export level through the pipeline of 750,000 barrels a day, a contractual requirement that does not establish that actual flows have reached it.

Iraq and Turkey signed an agreement to transport and load crude through the pipeline to Ceyhan, with the interim agreement lasting one year until a broader framework is completed, according to SOMO. The company said the agreement paves the way for negotiations on a framework covering oil, electricity and water resources. The reported flow of 500,000 barrels a day comes under this arrangement but remains below the agreed minimum of 750,000. SOMO published its monthly report on crude and product exports in August on September 6, providing an earlier official reference for export data. The Basra-Haditha pipeline project proposed by the ministry as a long-term solution could take three years to complete, according to Kurdistan 24, citing the ministry.