Northern Iraqi oil via Turkey to start today

Northern Iraqi regional administration is set to start crude oil exports through Kirkuk-Yumurtalik oil pipeline today. Defining the beginning of export as a historic moment, officials said two northern Iraqi oil fields will officially start pumping crude oil today, which will be transported by the Kirkuk-Yumurtalik pipeline to Turkey's Mediterranean port of Ceyhan. This will be the first time for the northern Iraqi regional administration to export oil via Turkey. The regional administration and the Iraqi central government have long been in dispute over the management of oil fields. But a deal was worked out to allow the administration to ship oil through the government's northern pipeline, a major breakthrough in the dispute. As specified by the Iraqi Constitution, northern Iraqi regional administration will take 17 percent of oil income derived from the exports of northern Iraqi crude oil. The beginning of oil exports is also a sign of growing trust in the regional administration's ties with Turkey. The oil flow will begin at about 40,000 barrels per day and increase to 60,000 barrels per day by October.