The Iraqi Oil Ministry said on Sunday that Baghdad has signed a deal to establish a subsea oil pipeline for exports via its southern ports.
The project is in cooperation with Italian offshore contractor Micoperi and Türkiye’s Esta for a pipeline with capacity of 2.4 million barrels per day (bpd), the ministry said without providing further detail on the destination of the exports.
“The state-owned Basra Oil Company signed a contract on Sunday to implement the third offshore export pipeline project with a consortium of the Italian company MICOPERI and the Turkish company ESTA, with a design capacity estimated at 2.4 million barrels per day,” said the Iraqi news agency quoting a statement by the Ministry.
The statement said it is “an important strategic project and is part of the government’s program. It aims to ensure flexibility and stability for crude oil export operations from the southern ports”.
The Ministry also explained that the project’s flexibility lies in the ability to export crude oil from three ports: Basra Port, Khor al-Amaya Port, and the floating platform.