Iraq to Restart Ceyhan Exports This Week, BP Set for Kirkuk Push

Iraqi Oil Minister Hayyan Abdul Ghani said crude exports through Turkey’s Ceyhan pipeline will restart on Wednesday or Thursday, ending a months-long suspension that has stranded northern oil and squeezed federal revenue. The pipeline normally carries crude produced in Iraq’s Kurdistan region and Kirkuk fields to the Mediterranean coast. Abdul Ghani also confirmed that BP will begin development work at the Kirkuk oil fields in “less than a month,” a move aimed at reviving output from one of the country’s largest but aging reservoirs. The announcements come as Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organisation faces heightened scrutiny over allegations that its ports were used to disguise Iranian oil shipments—claims the agency strongly denies, saying export operations are tightly supervised.