New Türkiye-US LNG agreement possible: Minister
ANKARA
Türkiye may sign a new liquefied natural gas agreement with the United States and is also in talks with Washington over potential joint oil and gas exploration projects, Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said on July 29.
Speaking after a July 28 meeting with U.S. Ambassador to Türkiye, Tom Barrack, the minister said energy cooperation between the two allies was a key topic on the agenda.
“We discussed the possibility of joint exploration activities in oil and gas, as well as cooperation on small modular reactors [SMRs],” Bayraktar stated.
“Long-term LNG contracts are especially important, as discussions are already ongoing.”
“These are matters that could materialize quickly. There could be a new LNG deal,” he added, without disclosing further details.
Bayraktar also commented on Türkiye’s ongoing negotiations with Iraq, as the current decades-old agreement covering oil exports through the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline is set to expire in 2026.
He emphasized that any new deal must include a mechanism to ensure full utilization of the pipeline, which has been offline since 2023.
“Our core demand is to include a mechanism that guarantees the full use of this pipeline,” he said, adding that the official note on the new deal proposal Türkiye sent reflects this position.
“The pipeline’s capacity is around 1.5 million barrels per day, but there is currently no oil flow. Even when it was operational, it never reached full capacity,” he added.
Bayraktar said Türkiye’s new proposal to Iraq also includes the option of extending the pipeline further south.
“The pipeline doesn’t necessarily have to be filled entirely with oil from Iraq’s north. To reach maximum capacity, it needs to stretch to Iraq’s south,” he said.
The deadline to finalize a new agreement with Iraq is July 2026, Bayraktar reminded.
The Kirkuk-Ceyhan oil pipeline was shut down in 2023 after an international arbitration court ordered Ankara to pay $1.5 billion in damages for unauthorized Iraqi oil exports between 2014 and 2018 over a dispute between Iraq’s central government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
