ANKARA
Iraq has already exported $2 billion worth of oil from northern Iraq, Turkey's Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said Monday.
During his speech at the seventh International Energy Congress and Fair in Ankara, Yildiz stated a total of 35 oil tankers have been filled with northern Iraqi crude, and that combined exports have hit 27 million barrels since Jan. 9, 2014.
Turkey receives oil from northern Iraq via pipeline and loads it onto tankers at its southern city of Ceyhan to be exported.
Praising the recent oil deal between the Iraqi Federal Government in Baghdad and the Kurdish Regional Government in Erbil, Yildiz said, "Iraq owns $100 billion worth oil and gas, and this amount can triple as the country's politics normalizes."
The Kurdish Regional Government began selling oil abroad independently amid prohibition from the central government in Baghdad because Baghdad did not share out its export revenue with the Kurdish Regional Government. The two sides reached an agreement last week to share money from all oil exports.
The congress which will run for two days has been organized by the Global Energy Association and The Anadolu Agency is the global media partner for the event.
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