Closure of Oil Pipeline Between Iraq and Turkey After Arbitration Case

The Kurdistan Pipeline Company announced on Monday that the Iraqi-Turkish pipeline has been closed at the request of the Turkish government. This news comes after Iraq halted oil exports from the northern region following Baghdad's victory in an arbitration case, in which it stated that Turkey violated a mutual agreement allowing the Kurdistan Regional Government to export oil to the Turkish port of Ceyhan. Genel Energy, a company focusing its operations in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, predicted that the closure would be temporary, adding that they continue to pump oil to storage facilities. The Norwegian company DNO, which focuses its activities in the Middle East, reported that it has received instructions from the Kurdistan Regional Government to temporarily stop pumping oil to the export pipeline.