Financial Times: Turkey and Iraq Kurds close to energy deal

Turkey and the Kurdish regional government of Northern Iraq are in the final stages of talks on a giant Turkish investment in the Kurdish oil and gas sector that could transform the region.

The proposed deal, which would range from exploration to export, would seek to create a new “energy corridor” that by the end of the decade could send Turkey as much as 3m barrels a day of oil, 1m of which would be taken from other regions of Iraq, and 10bn cubic metres of natural gas a year.

However, Baghdad is opposed to the deal, which many analysts say could further the Kurdish region’s economic and political independence. US diplomats have already signalled concern the plan could speed the break up of Iraq.  MORE