Iraq oil key for Turkey, says energy minister

Turkey is about to make new deals with new companies, which will be of great importance to Iraqi oil, Energy Minister Taner Yıldız said at the launch meeting of the World Energy Outlook 2014 report of the International Energy Agency (IEA) yesterday, as reported by Anadolu Agency.

"We are about to make new deals with new companies regarding Iraqi oil," he said, without giving more details.

He also added Turkish authorities will hold a high-level strategic cooperation meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi during his upcoming visit, where further details will be discussed.

"The IEA expects the daily oil demand will increase by 14 million barrels by 2040, of which 4 million barrels will be provided by Iraq. Turkey cannot be indifferent to this," he added.

"In the framework of our deals with Baghdad and Arbil, we will see an increase in trade with Iraq. We have a better understanding of how appropriate these deals are. Iraq's instability affects us; Iraq's stability therefore matters a lot to us. Turkey will continue to make the biggest contribution to the normalization of Iraq, as we do today," he noted.

The IEA expects a dramatic decrease in energy investments in Brazil and the U.S. in 2015, but a dramatic increase in the world's oil demand amid plunging oil prices, said IEA chief economist Fatih Birol during his presentation.

"This will increase the demand, especially for Middle Eastern oil, pushing the prices up in the forthcoming period. The IEA expects the daily oil demand to increase by 14 million barrels by 2040, and most of this amount to be met by the Middle East," Birol said.

More investments need to be started today in the Middle East to meet the increasing oil demand, he noted. ...