Still waiting: Jordan's Zarqa refinery is hoping to receive Iraqi crude oil via a cross-border pipeline
Iraq considers oil export options
As plans are made to rebuild its oil pipeline to Turkey, Iraq is hoping to open export routes to Iran and Jordan
Iraq, despite many security and economic problems, has witnessed major success in some aspects of its energy sector. Oil exports have risen from less than 1m barrels a day in 2003 to around 3.5m b/d at the end of 2017. The problem is that for most of this period, the overwhelming volumes of exports were through Basra in the south of the country. With oil production capacity rising, the Basra facilities are beginning to strain under the load. New ways of getting Iraqi oil to market are needed. Exports through the Iraq-Turkey Pipeline (ITP) to Ceyhan on the Mediterranean coast stopped in 2014 when a section inside Iraq was destroyed by the Islamic State (IS) group. At the same time, Kurdish Pe
Also in this section
28 April 2026
Oil traders warning of $200/bl oil are wrong, and the market should be wary of proclamations that the impact of the oil shortage has only begun to be felt and a that a ‘harsh adjustment’ is coming—even for industrialised nations
28 April 2026
Restoring supply from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Iraq involves complexities far beyond simply adjusting operational controls
28 April 2026
Datacentres will guzzle power at a ferocious rate, but the impact on wider energy markets will be far more complex than previously thought
28 April 2026
The key energy player faces balancing regional routes, political complexities, and creating a clear strategic vision for energy security
