The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) failed to secure Turkish approval for independent oil exports after a much trumpeted meeting between KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on 28 November. Kurdish and Turkish news media had been reporting for days that the talks would result in a wide-ranging energy accord between the two sides. But the recent thaw between Ankara and Baghdad and US pressure appear to have stalled the Kurdish drive to start oil exports through Turkey.
The KRG has been saying for weeks that it is on the verge of starting oil exports. A metering station built beyond the federally-controlled station at Fishkabur has been filled with crude ahead of full commissioning of the 300,000 b/d capacity pipeline. Yet the three-hour meeting between Mr Barzani and Mr Erdogan did not produce the result the KRG had hoped for. It ended without a joint statement and no energy accords appear to have been signed, as Baghdad again warned that relations with Turkey would suffer if the exports went ahead. (CONTINUED - 378 WORDS)
