Iraq's Oil Minister, Hayan Abdel-Ghani, has arrived in the Turkish capital, Ankara, for discussions that include the resumption of oil exports through the Ceyhan oil terminal, according to a source within the minister's office.

During his visit, the Iraqi oil minister is scheduled to meet with his Turkish counterpart to address various energy-related matters, with a particular focus on the restart of Iraq's northern oil exports via Turkey's Ceyhan port, as confirmed by an official in the oil sector.

Turkey had suspended Iraq's oil exports of approximately 450,000 barrels per day (bpd) through the northern Iraq-Turkey pipeline on March 25. This move came in response to an arbitration ruling by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).

The arbitration process originated in 2014 when Iraq filed a case with the Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce, contesting Turkey's involvement in facilitating oil exports from Iraqi Kurdistan without the approval of the federal government in Baghdad.

The Iraqi federal government asserts that its state-owned entity, SOMO, is the sole entity authorized to oversee crude exports via the Ceyhan terminal.

Iraq's argument centered on allegations that Ankara and the Turkish state energy company, BOTAS, violated the terms of an Iraq-Turkey pipeline agreement signed back in 1973. This violation allegedly occurred through the transportation and storage of oil from Kurdistan, as well as loading it onto tankers in Ceyhan without Baghdad's consent.

Turkey's objectives in these discussions include negotiations concerning the amount of damages it was instructed to pay following the arbitration ruling, as well as seeking clarification on other ongoing arbitration cases.

An official closely associated with Iraq's northern oil exports operations explained, "Iraq's oil minister is in Turkey to address the impediments delaying the resumption of oil exports and to explore ways to resolve lingering issues."

The International Chamber of Commerce had previously ordered Turkey to compensate Baghdad with approximately $1.5 billion for unauthorized exports by the Kurdistan Regional Government between 2014 and 2018.

"The discussion will prominently feature the damages mandated by the arbitration ruling and the unresolved arbitration cases involving Ankara," added the official.