Tue Mar 16, 2010 5:55pm IST
ANKARA, March 16 (Reuters) - Turkey is negotiating the renewal of an agreement on operating a pipeline that carries Iraqi crude oil to world markets and hopes to extend the deal by up to 20 years, Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said on Tuesday.
An agreement between Baghdad and Ankara that governs the operation of the pipeline, which transports a quarter of all Iraqi oil, expires this month, Yildiz told reporters.
"Hopefully (the accord) will be renewed, and we'll have a 15- to 20-year agreement," he said
The 600-mile (970 km) link carries oil from Iraq's northern fields located near the city of Kirkuk to Turkey's Mediterranean port of Ceyhan, which is also the terminus of a BP-led (BP.L: Quote, Profile, Research) pipeline transporting Azeri crude.
Turkish officials said talks with Baghdad on extending the accord began last year. They declined to provide details.
The two sides are likely to be negotiating transit fees and upgrade projects, analysts said. The agreement is widely expected to be signed.
The double-pipe link has a capacity of 1.6 million barrels per day (bpd) but normally carries about 500,000 bpd.
The Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline first opened in 1977. Flows are occasionally halted due to maintenance problems or sabotage by Iraqi insurgents.
Poor security left the link mostly idle between 2003 and 2007 following the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. (Reporting by Pinar Aydinli and Ayla Jean Yackley; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and Anthony Barker)
Source: http://in.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idINLDE62F0Y020100316?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0
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