Tehran, Baghdad launch talks to refine Iraqi Kirkuk’s oil in Iran

Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh and his Iraqi counterpart Jabar al-Luaibi have joined a new round of oil talks in Tehran to discuss further cooperation between the two countries, IRIB news agency reported.

According to the report, the sides are expected to discuss the two countries cooperation in the joint oil fields and also the ways for transporting Iraqi Kirkuk’s oil to Iranian refineries.

The report added that the sides are planning to refine Kirkuk’s oil in Iran and then send back the refined products to Iraq.

Under an initial agreement Kirkuk’s oil will be refined in two Iranian refineries of Tabriz and Kermanshah, the report suggested.

Exporting Iran’s gas to Iraq through Shalamcheh route and also the issue of training Iraqi oil experts in Iran are also on the agenda.

Iranian gas officials earlier announced that the volume of Iran’s gas exports to the neighboring country has already reached seven million cubic meters per day and Iraq has requested to increase the volume.

Iran has launched exporting its gas to Iraqi capital, Baghdad, since June 21 through a pipeline.

The two countries had earlier reached two agreements on exporting gas. The first agreement has envisaged gas export to Baghdad and the second one obliges Iran to export gas to Iraqi city of Basra through a pipeline crossing Shalamcheh City. Iran’s gas is expected to be used in power generation in Iraq.