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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Tuesday that Iraq had offered to supply Turkey with up to 1 million barrels of oil a day as Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Zeydi visited Ankara for talks on energy and regional security.
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“Our neighbour is right here,” Erdoğan said at a joint press conference following talks at the presidential complex. “Our goal now is to sign a comprehensive energy cooperation agreement as soon as possible that will benefit both sides.”
“Once we transfer 1 million barrels of oil from our neighbour Iraq, it will meet our needs,” the Turkish president said. Zeydi confirmed the figure, adding, “Yes, that is correct, 1 million.”
No binding agreement on the volume or timeline was signed on Tuesday. However, the two sides signed a deal for Turkish Petroleum to acquire a 15% stake in BP’s operations at the Kirkuk oilfield, with Erdoğan calling it “a historic step” as the broader energy cooperation agreement is still being negotiated.
Turkey imports around 90% of its oil and has been under pressure to diversify its supply since the outbreak of the Iran war, which pushed up global energy prices and closed the Strait of Hormuz. Iraq is already one of its closest trading partners and a major source of crude.
Zeydi chose Ankara for his third overseas visit after Washington and Tehran. The two leaders also discussed issues in the broader region, including Palestine, Syria and Iran. Erdoğan said Turkey was ready to supply Iraq with defence equipment.
Development Road and other projects on the table
The $17 billion Development Road — a motorway, railway and pipeline corridor running roughly 1,200 kilometres from Iraq’s port of Basra to the Turkish border and onward to Europe — was a key part of the talks.
Zeydi said work had gained new momentum. Transport Minister Abdülkadir Uraloğlu said the two sides were close to finalising details and that construction could begin before the end of 2026.
The project was first announced in 2023 and is designed to give Iraq a direct land route to European markets, reducing its dependence on Gulf shipping. The goal has become more pressing since the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
The decades-old Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline agreement expired in July 2026. The two countries are negotiating a replacement deal, which Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said must include a mechanism guaranteeing full use of the pipeline’s capacity of up to 1.5 million barrels per day.
The pipeline had been shut since March 2023 following an arbitration ruling against Turkey over Kurdish oil exports. Reviving it has been a priority for both governments.
Bayraktar said Turkey was also examining ways to send natural gas to Iraqi power plants struggling with shortages.
On water, the two countries signed a new framework for managing the shared Euphrates and Tigris river system, due to take effect on 1 September.
Joint infrastructure projects will be funded from a dedicated account drawing on Iraqi oil revenues from sales to Turkey, with Turkish companies leading construction.
Water has been a long-running source of tension between the two countries: Iraq has repeatedly complained that Turkish dams upstream have reduced downstream flows to critically low levels.
