On March 18, speaking on television, Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar affirmed that Ankara is urgently promoting an alternative energy corridor to reduce dependence on strategic shipping routes that are paralyzed.
The key proposal is to expand the existing pipeline (connecting from Kirkuk, Iran to the Turkish port of Ceyhan) extending down to the port city of Basra in southern Iraq. This is seen as Turkey's effort to discover and exploit new routes to help Gulf oil access the international market without going through the Strait of Hormuz.
This project is expected to carry up to 1.5 million barrels of oil per day, equivalent to 50% of Iraq's total exports. In the context of about 20 million barrels of oil flowing through the Ormuz Strait being disrupted every day, Western allies are placing high hopes on Ankara's initiative to stabilize supply for the Mediterranean region.
However, experts have discovered that internal political disputes in Iraq and infrastructure damage since 2014 are still major barriers, requiring huge investment capital and long time to fully realize them.
Besides oil, Turkey also aims to strengthen its role as a Eurasian energy center through a power transmission line project from Saudi Arabia. Mr. Bayraktar said that Ankara is negotiating to establish a power grid from the Gulf region across Turkish territory to supply Europe.
This is a strategic step to build a new value chain, helping NATO and EU allies have more energy security contingency plans in the context of geopolitical instability.
Turkey's proactive solution comes at a time when partner countries are struggling to find a way out of the global oil thirst. However, the progress of the "Road to Development" project from the Persian Gulf to Europe is still dependent on Baghdad's ability to settle with the Kurdistan regional government.
Despite many challenges, with 970km of existing infrastructure, Turkey is proving itself to be an irreplaceable link in ensuring world energy flows against Iran's blockades.
