Iraqi Kurdistan plans to start crude oil exports to Turkey by late September 2013 through a new crude oil pipeline that should be commissioned by this date. The new pipeline would stretch from Kurdistan oil fields in Iraq to the Fishkhabur pumping station, where it would enter the Kirkuk - Ceyhan pipeline. Its capacity would be 300,000 bbl/d, which is the current oil production capacity of the Iraqi Kurdistan (expected to reach 400,000 bbl/d). The pipeline capacity could be expanded to more than 1 mb/d by late 2015 and to 2 mb/d by 2019. Turkey has given the green light to the project.
The self-governed Kurdish region located within Iraq has stopped exporting through Iraq's federal pipeline since December 2012, which has stranded its oil output. It has been able to truck only small amounts to Turkey on road tankers. Oil is at the heart of the dispute between Iraq and Kurdistan over control of oilfields, territory and crude revenues shared between the two regions. Iraq completely disagrees with this decision and said unilateral energy initiatives taken by the Kurdish government may be in violation of the national constitution. No agreement has been reached so far.