Oil pipeline
Iraq (Kirkuk) to Turkey (Ceyhan). ~970 km.
Updated March 18, 2026 · View on the live map →
Iraq (Kirkuk) to Turkey (Ceyhan). ~970 km. Capacity ~1.65 million bpd. Commissioned 1977. Primary export route for Iraqi Kurdistan oil. Frequently disrupted by conflict and political disputes between Baghdad, Erbil, and Ankara.
Entangled in the Baghdad-Erbil-Ankara triangle. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) exported oil independently through this pipeline from ~2014, generating revenues that funded its quasi-independent state-building — Baghdad viewed this as unconstitutional. In March 2023, an international arbitration ruling in Baghdad's favor led Turkey to shut the pipeline, halting ~450,000 bpd of Kurdish exports and costing Iraq billions. The shutdown also serves Turkey's interest in pressuring the KRG on Kurdish militant issues. As of 2025, restart negotiations continue to stall. The pipeline demonstrates how a single piece of infrastructure can become hostage to three-way sovereignty disputes.
Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government resumed exports through the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline to Turkey on 18 March at ~250 kb/d, with up to 200 kb/d more possible. Iraqi output had fallen to ~1.4 mb/d from ~4.2 mb/d and southern exports (3.4 mb/d pre-war) were halted.