Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on July 29 that his country could soon receive up to 1 million barrels of oil per day from Iraq after reaching an agreement to buy a stake in the BP-operated Kirkuk oil field in northern Iraq.
Speaking at a joint press conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi in Ankara, Erdogan said the Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) will purchase a 15% stake in BP Energy Company of Kirkuk Limited under a separate transfer agreement.
Prime Minister al-Zaidi was in Turkey to discuss security, trade, transport, water management and a new energy agreement. The visit came just after the Iraq-Turkey crude oil agreement, which had operated the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline since 1975, expired on July 27.
Instead of renewing the old deal, Turkey sought a new energy cooperation framework with Iraq. Erdogan confirmed that al-Zaidi had offered to supply Ankara with 1 million barrels of oil per day. “Yes. When we transfer 1 million barrels of oil from Iraq, that will meet our needs,” he said.
According to Mehmet Celik, editorial coordinator of Daily Sabah, the agreement goes far beyond purely energy significance. “Turkey is diversifying its energy sources, as usual. But with Iraq, there are two other aspects: security and the development corridor project.”
Celik argued the deal does not replace existing agreements but diversifies supply sources. “The situation in Hormuz makes Turkey’s proposals for alternative energy and trade routes more attractive.” The U.S.-Israel military campaign against Iran launched in February and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz elevated Ankara’s role for Baghdad, prompting Iraq to request resumption of oil exports through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline after years of disruption.
Relations between the two countries have fluctuated over the past decade but remain a priority, especially for Iraq regarding oil and water. The most complex issue concerns security, particularly the presence of Turkish troops on Iraqi soil to fight the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU.
Military estimates suggest Turkey has about 50 bases of varying sizes in northern Iraq, deploying approximately 5,000 soldiers. In mid-2025, the PKK declared disarmament under a peace agreement with Ankara, but Turkey still considers the group’s presence in the mountains of northern Iraq a national security threat. “We are in close dialogue with Iraq to ensure Turkey’s terror-free process and the vision of a terror-free region become reality,” Erdogan affirmed.
