Putting back into operation the 970-km, 450,000 bpd  Iraq - Turkey Oil Pipeline, shut down by Turkey last March after disputing an arbitration ruling by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in favor of Iraq, will headline negotiations between Iraq and Turkey in Baghdad on 19 June.

The ICC obliged Turkey to pay Baghdad $1.5 billion in compensation for damages caused by the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) export of oil without permission from the federal government in Baghdad between 2014 and 2018.

The 80 days halt has cost the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) over $2 billion, Reuters calculations found.

The crude oil pipeline runs from Kirkuk in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region in northern Iraq to the Turkish port of Ceyhan, and the KRG began exporting crude independently from Iraq's federal government in 2013, a move Baghdad deemed illegal.

The Undersecretary of the Iraqi Oil Minister, Basim Mohammed Khudair, stated on Thursday that the two parties agree that it is necessary to resume oil exports as soon as possible, explaining that Iraq is ready to pump 500,000 barrels per day in case both parties agree on the resumption of oil exports.