Erbil Sends Oil, Ankara Gets Trouble

IAI Working Papers (Istituto Affari Internazionali) 14|02, 28 February 2014, 9 p.

by Olgu Okumuş *

Since the international media reported crude oil flowing from the KRG to Turkey, doubts about the act’s legality, political acceptability and opacity have surfaced. This oil trade is commercially enticing for energy-hungry Turkey, but is also politically risky. The Turkish government’s lack of transparency regarding the KRG energy deal’s economic and technical aspects has triggered domestic criticism – an especially risky proposition given the proximity of next year’s election – and the KRG deal may also hinder international reliance on Turkey as a reliable energy hub. Turkey would be better advised to position itself as a partner for the export of Iraqi oil and gas, without making any distinction between federal and regional authorities. An Ankara-Erbil-Baghdad partnership based on normalized energy relations would help Turkey build new energy bridges with the EU, reducing gas prices for European consumers and strengthening Turkey-EU relations.

* Olgu Okumuş is an affiliated lecturer in energy diplomacy at Sciences Po, Paris and managing editor at Natural Gas Africa.

Paper produced within the framework of the IAI-Edison project « The changing regional role of Turkey and cooperation with the EU in the neighbourhood », February 2014.

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